The Birds still Cry
by R.L BlackRose
Summary: When the insanity that's gripped him for seven years is cured by a stranger, Deidara feels lost. And then he meets Sakura. [OLD]
1. Awakening

**Author's Note: Well… as you can see, this is a Naruto fanfic. But… there's one problem. I actually have not watched that much of Naruto. (CURSE YOU, HOMEWORK…!) But, I DID watch a chunk of Shippuden. Almost an entire arc, I think. And there was one character that caught my eye and intrigued me. This character… was Deidara.**

**And so, I will try my hand at writing a Naruto fanfiction. I will probably make some mistakes, despite the awesome power of Google, so… DON'T GO CHEESE ON ME, OKAY? I appreciate corrections, though. Just leave em in the reviews or something. ANYWAY… this is the first chapter. If you likey, don't hesitate to review. If you no likey, don't hesitate either. I WANT TO KNOW HOW I CAN MAKE THIS BETTER. And, if I get enough reviews, I will continue. I have the entire thing planned out already, really. So… I hope you enjoy this! Rate and Review, please! Thanks!**

**Disclaimer: I DONT OWN NARUTO**

Chapter One

When Deidara opened his eyes, he was tied to a tree.

It was somewhere in the middle of a forest.

"What the…?" he muttered. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the thing tying him to the tree was no rope, it was the tree itself.

Deidara closed his eyes. What had happened?

He had been fighting that Uchia, Sasuke… and he had…

Deidara's eyes widened.

"But… didn't I blow… myself up?" he said to himself.

"You did." He heard, and turned his head.

There, sitting on a log, was a person. But this was no ordinary person. This person had big, black eyes that were all pupil and huge, stretching across his face. That was the only color on him apart from the glowing, gold aura that Deidara had to squint at to see.

The creature turned and blinked.

"AH! AH!" shouted Deidara, struggling. The tree held firm. "Wh-what are you, you FREAK?"

"I am no freak." said the creature, standing up without a sound. "I am a keeper of balance."

"Yeah, and I'm a penguin, yeah!" Deidara shouted. His eyes glowed in anger. "What the heck are you really?"

"Ah, and there it is." Said the creature, shaking it's luminous head. "The anger."

Deidara stopped. "Th-the anger?" he asked, confused.

"Yes." said the creature. "I am sorry to say this, my friend… but you are not really yourself right now."

"I'm… I'm so confused, yeah." said Deidara.

_Is this a dream?_ He thought.

"This is no dream." said the creature. Deidara gasped.

"What happened is this." The creature went on, smoothly. "There was a disturbance in the balance of this place. I came to investigate… and _you_, my friend, are the cause of the disturbance. I got here just in time to collect your particles.

"Wait." said Deidara. "So… you saved me…"

The creature nodded.

"Just so you could KILL ME?" he shouted in disbelief.

"No, no, no." said the creature, and he sighed. "I want to fix you."

"Fix me, yeah?" said Deidara. "There's nothing wrong with me!"

The creature turned to him. "Is that right?" he said, walking up to the restrained blonde. "The anger… joining the Akatsuki, the love of explosions, the need for revenge…"

And then, whispering into his ear. "The overpowering desire to kill…"

Deidara tried to thrash and rip free. He couldn't.

"What are you saying?" said Deidara, gritting his teeth. "I've been like this all my life, yeah!"

"No, Deidara. You haven't." said the creature. "This is the work of something darker than the Akatsuki. There is the group… the Maika…"

But then, it was like the creature stopped himself. "But, this is another matter. For now, I need to right the wrong that was caused when your mother died…"

Deidara breathed in sharply.

"Of course, you won't remember it now. There's a block, isn't there? You can't remember anything before your corruption."

"My… m-my corruption?" whispered Deidara. He tried to pull away from the tree.

"Stupid tree!" he muttered. "You… YOU did this, didn't you?"

"Yes." said the creature, simply.

"Let me go this instant!" growled Deidara, his eyes glowing fiercely.

"I will, in time." said the creature. "For now… you have been lied to. Even your age is wrong. It's all wrong. The Akatsuki have changed you for their own benefit. Deidara… you're only fifteen. You've still got a chance to change everything."

"F-fifteen?" stuttered Deidara, lost in his thoughts.

The creature walked up to Deidara. "Now… what I will do right now will reverse all the bad effects brought onto you."

The creature sighed.

"I must warn you, thought… this will not be pleasant." it said.

"What? N-no!" said Deidara, afraid.

The creature reached up to touch his forehead.

"No! Don't touch me!" shouted Deidara. "Help, help, somebody help me!"

"I am helping you." said the creature. It's eyes started glowing gold.

"No, get away…!" said Deidara, turning his head away from the reaching golden hand.

And then he cried out as wood shot out from the tree and wrapped itself around his head, restraining it.

"That was no Jutsu!" he shouted.

"No." said the creature, closing it's eyes. "This is… deeper than chakra. Now, close your eyes."

"Never!" he shouted.

He tried to get away. The tree didn't budge.

And as Deidara's eyes widened in fear… the creature's hand touched his forehead.

What followed was an explosion of pain unlike anything Deidara had ever known.

"YAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed as electricity ripped through his body. Not one quick bolt, but many, many, of them, shocking his entire body.

And it didn't stop. It just kept going.

The creature suddenly pulled back it's hand and thrust it deep into Deidara's head. Then, it pulled.

Deidara felt a great dizziness, followed by a horrible aching everywhere, and the electricity intensified. He gasped, breathing in and out quickly, and screamed again.

His vision went black as his mind spun.

A few minutes passed, but for him, it could have been hours.

Deidara squeezed his eyes shut as he shook, and tears streamed down his cheeks. "No…!" he sobbed. "Stop it… stop it…!"

Because what was happening at that moment was more than physical pain.

It was mental pain.

"I can't stop." Deidara heard, as if through a wall, muffled. "You will be grateful when it's over."

"Kill me!" he cried.

"No!" said the creature sternly. "Just wait it out."

And then another scream ripped through his throat.

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After a while, the screams stopped, replaced by convulsions of pain. Screaming did no good, it seemed.

Many images came to Deidara's mind.

A woman… with blonde hair, smiling at him…

_My… my mother._ he thought. _Why… why didn't I remember what she looked like?_

And then, another. A man, with tousled brown hair.

_My… my dad._

That was when another image came to him. A horrible, horrible image, printed on the back of his eyelids… a monster, and- and his mother's dress soaked in crimson…

That image disappeared and many others ran through his mind. A woman with long brown hair. A boy with black hair with two others behind him. So many people… forgotten…

Deidara, his back against the tree, felt every shock that went through him, the pain that rested in him. His mind fumbled for answers.

And then, mercifully, his thoughts slowly dimmed and he sank into unconsciousness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara opened his eyes and looked up.

He was lying on the ground.

He blinked lazily, as the light of the sun shone across him.

But… he didn't feel like he needed to escape. Or bring horrible revenge to the one that had captured him.

He just felt peace.

And then, he gasped and shot up, panting. Still sitting on the ground, he lifted up one shaking hand and looked at it.

It was as if he was seeing it for the first time.

His thoughts, clear and organized, slowly loaded. He felt no anger, no need to kill.

"Why… how… what…?" said Deidara. He looked around him, and saw the creature, sitting and watching him from a log.

"Hello." it said, tilting his head. "How do you feel?"

Deidara stood up, swaying for a minute, then steadying. "I… I feel… incredible!"

He smiled. The first real smile to have risen on his face for years.

"I… I can think again!" he said. "Well, I could always think, but not like this!"

The creature stood up as Deidara gazed around in wonder.

"Now, Deidara." it said. Deidara turned.

"Yeah?" he said. "What is it?"

"You must listen to me." said the creature.

Deidara blinked and nodded. "So? What do you need to tell me?"

"You have been insane for seven years." said the creature.

Deidara opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again.

"Insane?" he whispered.

"Yes." said the creature. "You have been literally insane for seven years. You have not been able to control yourself, to form logical thoughts. You were programmed only to kill. Try to remember anything from your life in the Akatsuki. Anything."

Deidara's closed his eyes in concentration.

"Yes… I remember them, but they're all hazy… like seeing them through smoke, almost like it's not me!"

"And it barely was." said the creature. "The story of how this happened will come back to you eventually."

"Yeah, I hope so too-" suddenly, Deidara stopped. He blinked and gasped softly.

"Or, it can come back now." muttered the creature. "That's alright too, I guess."

Deidara stood in place, his eyes looking into the distance.

"How many people?" he whispered. His heart thumped in his chest.

"Hm?" said the creature.

"How many people… did I kill?" asked Deidara, shaking.

The creature looked down.

"Oh, Deidara…" he said, closing his eyes.

"I… I was in the Akatsuki. I killed people." he said.

"Yes." said the creature, looking at him in sympathy.

_Well… I knew this would happen._ he thought dismally. _I should just leave him for now._

Deidara leaned against a tree, looking forward, but at nothing at all.

"I… I killed…" he whispered.

The creature stood and grew big golden wings.

"I will be back when you need me again." it said vaguely, and flapped his wings as he flew away and disappeared in a flash of gold.

Deidara was shaking wildly now, the memories of all the wrongs that he had done pouring into his mind. Everything.

His eyes, before a brilliant blue, died down to a light, softer sky-blue color.

He sat down and pulled his knees up to his chest. His clothes, he noticed, seemed bigger now. Much bigger. Almost as if he had shrunk.

Deidara put his hands over his ears and squeezed his eyes shut as the memories came back.

But this time, he could just stand by and watch himself do horrible, heinous things. There was nothing he could change.

All the villages hated him. He was wanted, pursued. A traitor.

But… he didn't want to be in the Atuski. He never wanted to kill. Not with clay birds, not with anything. He never wanted to hurt anyone. He had just wanted to stay in his village and become… become an artist…

It was his past.

_I understand._ he thought.

And his eyes softened and his facial features shifted slightly as the world turned back the clock within him, restoring him to where he had left off seven long years ago.

And he was a different person.

The other him that had joined the Akatsuki, that hadn't really been him. Just a sick, twisted shadow of himself.

But still… he couldn't help feeling like it was his fault…

And then he was fifteen. Not the fake age that the Akatsuki had told him. He was fifteen.

Not an assassin, not a killer, not a lunatic. Just a fifteen year old boy that sat in the shade of a tree, sad and alone, remembering.

And as the world that he resided in spun, as time went on as usual, as the birds sang in the green, rustling trees…

Deidara cried.


	2. Rooftops

**Author's note: Not one review. =(**

**Well... what was I expecting? This IS the Naruto section, after all. About thirty come in every minute! I should feel lucky to get... 22... hits, I guess!**

**Okay. I DON'T FEEL LUCKY!**

**Please review even if you hated it, detested it, ABHORRED it with all your heart. I want to know why you don't like it, if that's the case! Once again... please REVIEW! THANK YOOOOOUZ**

Chapter Two

Sakura sat on the roof of her house.

Not because the roof was a comfortable place to sit; no, it definitely wasn't, actually. But up on the rooftop of the small house, the moon shone clear and bright like a candle, slicing a path through the darkness with it's unearthly glow.

_The stars are shining especially bright tonight._ thought Sakura. She sighed.

Inner Sakura stayed quiet, for once.

The truth was, Sakura had been feeling quite lonely lately.

Sometimes, you just needed someone to... cry on their shoulder, to rely on, to know that they will always be with you...

Of course, there was her team. But Naruto and Kakashi... well, they weren't affectionate or caring. Ino was fine, but something was missing.

And Sakura knew what it was.

_I wonder..._ she thought, laying down on the red roof. She put her arms behind her head and gazed, eyes half closed, towards the sky.

_Will I ever actually like someone ever again?_

Sasuke... she had given everything she had to Sasuke. She had cared about him, and helped him when she could, and her love had been real. It had been more than just a simple crush.

But he had betrayed her completely. And from that realization, the love had gone from Sakura. She wasn't sure she could ever trust someone with something as fragile as her feelings ever again.

She closed her eyes, feeling a breeze go by and ruffle her hair. Loose strands blew across her face and tickled her closed eyes and dry lips.

Sakura sat up.

_I can't stay here for much longer._ she thought, and started going back in via a hatch in the roof.

But she paused for a second or two, and turned to look at the moon.

And the moon looked back, silent and cold like her broken heart.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was early in the morning in the forest.

A small lake rippled somewhere in it's midst. Something small and heavy was dropped into it. It was followed by deep black shreds of fabric, emblazoned with swirling red clouds.

Someone stood reflected in the lake, gazing down at the water as the two objects sank down.

A gust of wind blew past Deidara's face, whipping his ponytail into his face. As the wind died down, it settled back into place.

The look on his face was a look of sadness mixed with determination.

The Akatsuki ring and robes sank out of sight, and Deidara watched them intently, as if to make sure that they wouldn't come back up to get him.

He was kneeling on the leaf-covered forest ground, pants stained. He had gotten the clothes from a small abandoned shack that stood empty and abandoned nearby.

Deidara picked up a leaf and crunched it in his fist, then opened it and let the pieces flutter down. The tongue on his hand caught one of the pieced and ate it.

"No, don't do that!" Deidara groaned. The mouth just smiled in response.

Since he had been returned to sanity by the stranger who had not yet returned, he had lost most of his control over his mouths.

"Spit that out!" said Deidara. The mouth did nothing.

_How did I control these things before, if not by talking to them? _he thought, frustrated.

"Fine! Have it your way, yeah!" he told the mouth. The mouth stuck it's tongue out and wiggled it a little.

Deidara made a face. "That's so disgusting...!" he sighed. Then, he stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants.

His head was calling him to hide out in the forest and survive, but his heart wanted something else entirely.

_Why don't I... help Konoha?_ he thought. _I recognize this weather, these plants... it must be nearby!_

_ Wait, _he thought, and frowned. _But... that thing told me to stay alive. Unless... I can stay alive WHILE helping Konoha. But... how do I do that?_

Deidara breathed out heavily. He had no idea how he was even supposed to help. He was out of clay, and if the villagers saw giant birds hovering over them...

Yeah, they probably wouldn't react too well.

"I see you've got all your memories back." said a voice, startling him. He whirled.

The creature sat on a branch, swinging it's legs lazily over the side.

"You scared me, yeah!" said Deidara. "How did you even get here without me noticing, anyway?"

"That is for me to know and for you... well, for you to not know." said the creature. "I could hear your thoughts."

"You've made that clear, yeah." muttered Deidara.

"No matter what the people of Konoha might do to you if they found you... you still want to help?"

"Y...yeah!" said Deidara.

_Wow, I'm never going to get used to that mind reading thing._ he thought.

"Why?" said the creature. "Some sort of repayment?"

"No." said Deidara firmly. "I want to help them because I can."

The creature's face twisted in what might have been a slight grin.

"I can see that you're ready, then." it said, and then it pointed one, glowing finger at Deidara.

"Wh-what are you-?" Deidara's question was cut short when both mouths on his hand spat out knives. Deidara caught them in his hands and lifted them up to his eyes.

They were... strange. In a beautiful way, thought.

They were twin daggers, with short, blue hilts. On each hilt was a round, blue marble with many small hard vein-like tubes flowing from it and into the rest of the knife, like a leaf if you turn it over once it falls.

The daggers were blue and started to glow slightly when they touched his hands.

"What... what are these things?" asked Deidara.

"Those are your spirit daggers." said the creature. "You posses a power far, far deeper than chakra. You can control the power with those knives.

"But... I've never fought with knives before!" said Deidara. "I don't even know how to use this 'mystical power' that you say I have, how am I supposed to-"

"Patience." said the creature. "The feeling of fighting with daggers will come to you naturally. It's in your blood. But these are not only for fighting. They serve many other purposes."

"Like?" said Deidara, confused.

"You will learn them over time." said the creature. "Disguise. Healing. Control of the elements. Growing-"

"Whoa, wait, go back to that last one...!" said Deidara.

"It will come naturally." said the creature. "Oh, and one more thing."

Suddenly, it jumped of the tree and went flying by Deidara, missing him by mere millimeters. Deidara's hair whipped across his face, across his wide astonished eyes, and he felt something on the side of his forehead.

"Hey! What'd you do, yeah?" he asked, annoyed.

"The thing on the side of your face is a regulator. It will keep you from going insane when you hear things closely intertwined with your Akatsuki life, but do not overdo it, as it can only take so much! Farewell, now!" said the creature, and swooped up into the air, disappearing with a flash like a sunbeam glinting off metal.

"Wait!" called Deidara, but it was too late.

"Aw, man." he muttered.

Then, he looked up, a new light in his eyes.

"Well, I better get going." he said to himself, grinning. "Gotta find Konoha!"

He reached for his pouch of clay-

"Oh. Wait a minute." he said. "No clay."

Deidara dropped his head into his hands. "What am I supposed to make birds out of to fly without clay?"

He sighed and looked down at his daggers. "And I don't suppose you can make birds without-"

Suddenly, he heard the ground rumbling. It shook under him, and he sank down slowly.

"GAAAAAAH!" he shouted as the ground crumbled beneath him. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself-

But instead of falling, he felt himself... rising.

_Do I dare look?_ he thought. He opened one eye.

He was hovering in the air.

"Wait." he said, tilting his head. "If I'm not on the ground... then what am I on?"

His eyes drifted down.

Under him, flapping it's wings vigorously, was a bird made entirely out of earth, hovering at least a yard above the ground.

"Huh." said Deidara. He looked down at the knives.

Light was pulsing inside of the marbles, coursing through the little transparent veins into the other parts of the knife, making them glow like the moon.

"Whoa!" he said, surprised.

He breathed in deep and closed his eyes.

_Concentrate, Deidara... concentrate!_ he thought to himself.

And then he opened his eyes as the bird rose smoothly into the sky.

He looked all around. Higher and higher he went on the bird, until he saw a small village.

_Well, definitely not Konoha... but it's a start!_ he thought. _They probably know where Konoha is._

And so he stood tall, blonde hair shining in the light of the rising sun as the bird drifted towards the small village, flapping it's wings from time to time. The clouds loomed above them like mountains, and Deidara looked up at them as his mind spun, overwhelmed with new thoughts and old memories alike.


	3. Blood

**Author's Note: Some reviews have started coming in... THANK YOU! Please review more... I love, love, love reviews...! AND PENGUINS.**

**Anyway... this was a VERY epic chapter, took me a LONG time to write... so please review it! I think I will explode if you do not. OR SET MY LLAMA ON YOU. BE WARNED, IT HAS A BAZOOKA. YEAH, YOU HEARD ME. REVIEW.**

**Deeeeeesclaimer: I do not own ze shoooow naaaruto or ze charakters eeeencluded. Zhank you!**

Chapter Three

Sakura yawned as she approached her team's meeting place near the gates to Konoha.

"Why does it always have to be so early?" she muttered sleepily to herself.

"HEY! SAKURA!" called Naruto, waving her over.

"And why doesn't he seem to care?" she sighed.

"Hey! Sakura!" said Naruto. "Kakashi's gonna show us something NEW today!"

"That's great." muttered Sakura.

"Hey, what's wrong?" said Naruto. "You in a bad mood?"

"YOU WANNA PUT ME IN A WORSE ONE?" she hissed. Naruto took a step back.

"I'll take that as a yes...!" he squeaked.

Kakashi walked up to them. "Not a good way to start the day." he said.

"It's his fault." said Sakura, crossing her arms.

Kakashi looked at both of them.

"Okay!" he said. "Today, I want to show you a new technique in the forest right outside the village. Come on."

Naruto and Sakura nodded and followed him out the gate. Little farms surrounded the city, just outside.

They walked in silence for a while. The air was still and humid, the signs of an approaching storm.

Sakura glanced around herself, nervous. "Hey... is it really safe to go into the forest? I think that there might be a storm today..."

"Oh, you worry too much!" said Naruto.

"We'll be fine." echoed Kakashi.

Sakura rubbed her arms. She still felt like something was wrong. She was tempted to say it, but...

_Nah._ she thought. _They'll probably just think I'm stupid or something. _

_I bet it's just me._

It wasn't.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara snapped out of his nap when the bird he was on started to flap harder, buffeted by humid winds.

His eyes jolted open. The clouds that he had seen before had now darkened, blocking out the sun even in the early morning.

_Huh. _he thought. _Storm's coming._

He rolled over and looked down.

"Hey! The village is right there!" said Deidara.

_Wait..._ he thought, freezing. _How do I get it to go down?_

"Uh... bird?" he said, feeling silly. "Can you go down near the village-"

The bird dropped like a stone.

"GAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Deidara, clutching the sides.

"STOP STOP STOP!" he shouted, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his teeth as his heart leaped into his throat-

The bird screeched to a stop about a foot above the ground.

Deidara made a small choking noise, then rolled off, frozen.

"Ugh..." he muttered to the bird. "This is all your fault, yeah."

The bird ignored him, confusedly pecking at itself looking for feathers to preen.

"Yeah. You do that." said Deidara, tired. He stood up and brushed off his clothes.

Some of the dirt went up his nose, and he sneezed. Apparently, that was a big mistake. The bird exploded into a cloud of dust, sending Deidara into a coughing fit.

He stepped out of the cloud. His clothes were practically dyed brown.

"Grrrr...!" he said, brushing himself off again. Then, he straightened up and grabbed his daggers, sliding them into his belt.

"Now, where was that village?" he said to himself, and then started walking in the direction of where he had last seen it from the air.

When he got there, the gate was unlocked. It was a tiny village, with a few rows of houses and some small farming plots.

_No need to put up my hood here,_ thought Deidara. _I don't think these people even KNOW what the Akatsuki is. They live in the middle of nowhere!_

Even so, he pulled on a pair of gloves. Just in case.

He stepped in and looked around. A few people glanced at him as they passed, their eyes resting for a moment on his stranger's clothes and the device on his head before moving on.

He saw some vendors on the small paths, and started to go up to one of them.

"Hey," he started to say. "Do you know where-"

A man stepped in front of him, interrupting his question.

Deidara's eyes widened.

He was wearing a black shirt with a red cloud sewn on the back.

_He works for the Akatsuki! _he thought. _Oh no... what do I do? He'll recognize me!_

Deidara flipped up his hood. It cast a shadow on his face, hiding most of his features. But it wasn't enough.

The man from the Akatsuki didn't seem to notice him, instead drawing a scroll from deep in the folds of his cloak.

"Have you seen this person?" he called out loudly, getting the attention of some people. Some of them paused their work for a moment, and some came over to look at him.

Deidara stepped behind the crowd and looked over their shoulders as the man opened the scroll. And then he gasped.

The face on the scroll was none other than...

His.

It was his face.

The Akatsuki knew.

_Oh no... of course! The ring! Doesn't it do some fancy sensing thing? Or... maybe I was spotted?_

"Have you seen this person?" repeated the man, slowly turning and lifting the scroll up high. Most of the people muttered their 'no's and slowly started leaving.

Just as the man was about to slide the scroll back into his clothing, a gust of wind went by.

Deidara quickly reached up, realizing the danger, but it was too late. The wind blew past his face and entered his hood.

"No!" he said, making everyone turn. He brought his hands down on the hood, only to find that it was no longer there.

His blonde hair blew out behind him, and then the wind died down.

Everyone stared at him. Deidara gulped.

"Uh...h-h-hi!" he stammered.

"There he is!" shouted someone from inside the crowd. "Get 'im!"

Deidara stepped back a two steps, trembling. He tensed to run.

"Thank you." said the man, and whipped off his cloak.

A few of the villagers screamed. It was no man. It was a half-man, it's flesh fused together with metal parts, whirring and clicking.

And then it leaped into the air in Deidara's direction.

Deidara whirled around and ran out the gate, back into the forest.

He heard the clanking of the robot behind him. Gasping for air, he ran straight into the forest. Branches whipped him in his face and all over his arms, but he pushed them away, stumbling forward.

"You cannot run." said the robot, and suddenly it was beside him. It then darted sideways, and Deidara ducked as the machine flew over him, crashing into a tree. It didn't break, however, instead using the tree to propel himself straight towards the Deidara again.

Deidara threw himself to the side, and the robot landed on the forest floor, skidding to a stop. He tried to scramble up quickly, but suddenly the robot planted a foot under him and flipped him over.

The robot then planted a foot on Deidara's chest. It was surprisingly heavy and strong, much too strong for Deidara to lift.

Deidara's frightened eyes searched the robot's face. Now, without the cloak that had been on it before, it looked fake and emotionless.

The thing on him lifted a huge spear in it's hands and raised it far above. The tip glinted as a cloud blocking the sun moved for just a second.

And then the robot brought the spear down-

Sparks flew as it clashed with one of Deidara's daggers. He had drawn it in seconds, only to defend himself, but as he touched the knife he felt strong, and the marble in the center pulsed. The dagger glowed blue.

The robot showed no surprise.

Deidara and the machine battled quietly for a little, each pushing their weapons. The spear inched closer to Deidara's beating heart with every push it was given.

But then Deidara closed his eyes and let the energy flow through him. When he opened his eyes, they glowed blue and luminous, and he pushed with all his remaining strength.

"Hyaaah...!" he grunted, pushing upwards. The spear got farther away.

And then, Deidara pushed the dagger upwards. In the mere seconds that the robot's spear was farthest away from him, he slid the dagger into his belt next to it's partner, and flung himself onto his hands, kicking upwards.

The robot caught the unexpected blow full to it's torso, and it was flung back. Deidara flipped back onto his feet, and drew both his knives. No longer shaking, his eyes narrowed as the robot picked itself up.

"What do you want?" said Deidara, his voice cold and unwelcoming.

"Only your return to the Akatsuki." said the robot it a metallic voice.

"And... if I say no?" Deidara hissed, in a dangerously soft voice.

"Then I make you."

Deidara clutched his knives and let more power flow into them. They glowed brighter.

"Never." he said, defiant. "I will never go back, now that I have my sanity back."

"That is a shame." said the robot, and then it lifted it's spear and charged.

Deidara stepped to the side, then lifted his leg and spun, catching the robot on the back and throwing it forwards. He planted his foot on the thing's metal back, but the robot gave a donkey kick up into Deidara's stomach. But even as the robot got up, Deidara thrust a dagger into the robot. It cut straight through metal and wiring and mesh, straight into the heart of the machine.

The robot was still, giving off small crackling noises.

"I will... make... yoooooooooouuu..." the robot said, with the last of it's dying batteries. It's voice got lower as the machinery within it slowed down.

"Tell the Akatsuki that they will never get me. Never again." whispered Deidara.

The robot's eyes flickered out, leaving only a shell impaled on the dagger that slowly faded.

Deidara slid his knife out of the robot, and stumbled back, woozy.

"Oh..." he said, and then he stumbled back against a tree.

"Well, now I know what happens when I use... my powers..." he said to himself, smiling slightly. His eyes unfocused.

But right before they did, he saw something on the robot and painstakingly refocused them on that thing.

It was a rolled up paper... but not the scroll that had been shown to the villagers.

It was a map.

A map that surely showed Konoha.

Deidara, regaining his balance slowly, walked forward and kneeled, drawing the map out of the machine's pocket. He opened it.

There was a red "x" marked on a small village. It had the name "Kareru" on it.

"So... that's where I was just now." muttered Deidara, scanning the map. "But where is-"

And then, he saw, in dark black ink, one name.

Konoha.

He glanced towards his daggers, firmly in his belt, and took them out again.

A bird, more stable than the last, was soon formed out of earth. He grinned.

"This might actually work, yeah." he said to himself, and hopped onto the bird.

"To Konoha!" he said, confident, pointing towards the village hidden in the leaves.

And the bird took off, sailing upwards into the light drizzle that was just beginning.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura was exhausted.

"That jutsu is hard." she whined.

"Life is hard." said Kakashi.

"Haha, yeah Sakura! Life-"

Sakura turned slowly and gave him a death glare. Naruto stopped talking.

A small drop of water suddenly fell on her head, cold and wet. It rolled down her face.

That drop was soon followed by many other, dropping onto the three's upturned faces.

"It's raining." said Kakashi, walking forwards. "We should probably be getting back now."

"With pleasure." muttered Sakura. The three started walking.

They were interrupted by the sound of clapping. But it wasn't a clap of thunder. It was the kind that comes from human hands.

"Well done, well done. Very nice." said a voice.

Sakura and Naruto whirled around. Kakashi didn't.

"I thought I sensed someone." said Kakashi. "Nice job on hiding it."

A figure, previously cloaked in the shadows of the trees stepped forward into the clearing.

Standing before them was...

Zetsu.

"An Akatsuki? Here?" said Sakura. "Wh-why?"

"It has come to our attention that we have a problem here." said the black half.

"Problem?" echoed Kakashi.

"The little girl." said the white half. "Sakura."

Sakura dug one of her feet into the ground, tensing.

"You see, your strength has come to our attention." said Zetsu. No one even cared which half was talking anymore.

He stepped forward, dragging behind him the plants parts that poked out from the bottom of his Akatsuki cloak.

"In short, you must be eliminated." said Zetsu.

There was silence as the rain splattered down to the earth. It was raining harder now.

"You will make for quite a tasty snack-"

"You'll never get Sakura! You'll have to get through us first!" hollered Naruto, stepping forward. His eyes sparked as his hands clenched into fists by his sides.

"I do not wish to go through you." said Zetsu.

And evil, cold smile curled around his lips.

"Only under you." he said.

And then the ground opened up beneath him and swallowed him up.

The three ninjas looked around. There was silence.

Suddenly, a realization came to Kakashi, accompanied by the sensation of someone's chakra approaching.

"SAKURA! JUMP!" he shouted. The rain made his voice hard to hear, but as soon as it reached Sakura's ears, she leaped into the air.

The ground cracked where she had been standing and like a fish leaping out of water, Zetsu burst out. Pieces of earth fell back to the ground as he jumped.

His big, jaw-like extensions swung open. Sakura saw them coming, but there wasn't much she could do. There was nowhere to jump off of, only air around her.

And then the extension's sharp points clamped onto her.

But they didn't just grab her; They dug deep into her skin, and sliced most of the way through.

Sakura made a choking noise, and coughed. Blood splattered from her mouth.

The pain filled her, flowing through her body. She couldn't move. Sakura had been completely impaled.

As they started to drop towards the hole in the ground that Zetsu had made, Sakura looked down. Her clothes were drenched in dripping crimson blood. She coughed again, and this time a river of blood burst from her mouth and trickled down her chin into her shirt.

"NO!" shouted Naruto, lunging forward, but it was too late. The ground closed up behind Zetsu.

Kakashi turned. "I can feel where he's going! Quick, before we lose the trail!" he jumped. "Follow me!"

Naruto leaped after him, eyes brimming with determination. "I'm coming, Sakura!" he shouted into the pouring rain.

Zetsu popped up in front of them once they had followed him for a while.

"No need." he said in a bored voice. "I cloned myself. Sakura is dead, my clone dropped her off in the forest. If you search hard enough, I bet you could find her body."

"NO! YOU'RE LYING!" Shouted Naruto in a rage.

"Naruto." said Kakashi, but the anger was rising in him as well. He just managed it better.

"I am not lying. Why would I?" said Zetsu. "She's dead. I pierced her completely."

He licked his lips. "Her blood tasted quite good. It made for a satisfying meal. Now, good day to you."

And then he disappeared back into the ground and was gone.

The two remaining Ninja stood, shocked.

And then Naruto's scream pierced the storm.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The birds rose from the trees, flapping their wings and crying out with their dark noises.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zetsu had popped up with Sakura in the middle of the forest, not too far from the clearing.

He had wrenched his plant extensions open. Sakura had gasped in pain, blood spurting from the gaping incisions, and flopped onto the forest floor. Her blood drenched the ground around her. She lay, breathing her last breaths heavily. They grew shorter and sharper every minute.

"Goodbye, Sakura." said Zetsu. Then, he was gone.

Sakura tried to heal herself with her remaining chakra. She didn't have much left, though... that new jutsu...

Her blood filled her throat and she choked on it, gasping for breath once it cleared.

Sakura's time was running out.

Her body protested as she tried to pick herself up, grabbing a tree. She took a step forward, and another, but then her body wouldn't listen to her. She wobbled, and the pain tore through her...

And then... footsteps.

The sound of... wings?

Someone approached her. A... a huge beast...

Sakura stumbled one step back. Something winged...

Something slid off the winged creature. Her eyes focused again.

_Deidara!_ she thought panicked.

"No... no... no..." she muttered, and stumbled backwards. Only this time, she lost her balance and fell against the tree she had used earlier.

Deidara came closer, reaching out. "Sakura..." she heard as if through a wall, muffled. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Get away!" she screamed, but her protest was cut off by a fountain of blood that dribbled down her chin.

"Sakura!" she heard.

"No... no... NO!" she shouted, grabbing a knife in her wildly shaking hand. She threw it, but it was so off aim that it missed Deidara by about a yard.

Deidara stepped forward.

"No! You don't understand! I'm trying to help you!" he said. He came closer and reached out for her shoulder, but Sakura flailed and kicked him. She slid down the tree.

And then she felt hands under her, scooping her up. She was lifted into the air.

"Let go...!" she whispered. The person carrying her ignore her. "LET GO!" she shouted, and kicked. The person dropped her, and she cried out horribly as she hit the ground and her wounds burned like fire.

"Stop struggling!" she heard. She was lifted again, but this time, she couldn't fight back. She could barely move.

Sakura focused her eyes on the face above her.

It was Deidara's... but at the same time, it wasn't. The eyes softer, more... human looking. The look of shocked concern didn't look like the kind of expression that Deidara would wear.

"Let me go..." she whispered feebly. "Let me go..."

"I'm not going to hurt you." said Deidara. "Don't worry."

Sakura felt wind passing by ruffling her hair. Her surroundings sank slowly. They were ascending.

"Are you going to... kill... me?" Sakura managed to choke out.

"No!" said Deidara, smiling down at her. The smile flooded her with comfort. No matter how many times she had fought with him, that smile made her want to trust him...

"I already told you, I'm not going to hurt you. You're going to be okay." said Deidara.

And Sakura, deciding against all she had been taught to trust him, curled up in his chest as she drifted off into merciful, painless sleep.


	4. Dream

**Author's Note: Yaaay! More reviews have been coming in! Reviews make me happy, teehee!**

**Anywaaaaays... here's a chapter! This one sort of intrduces the "OH NO WHOS THAT GUY" factor in the story. Yeah, I've added a few OC's... expect more of those in the future! Anyway, I hope you enjoy my story... so here it is! Chapter four! ENJOOOY! REVIEW! (OR ELSE THE LLAMAS WILL COME FOR YOU. AND THEY ARE EVIL)**

**I don't own Naruto. Or the characters. Or the world. But wouldn't that be cool, though? **

Chapter Four

Deidara glanced over at the fallen ninja breathing softly on a a bed in the corner of the dark cave that shielded them from the storm.

Her usually rosy lips were pale as was her face, like smooth marble. Her chest rose and fell smoothly, but the breaths that escaped her mouth were choppy and uneven.

He'd discovered that his new powers could make beds (who knew?) but he had been too exhausted to make blankets so he had just swiped from what looked like a clothesline outside one of the small farms that surrounded Konoha.

_Sorry... but it's for a good cause, I guess! _he thought, standing up. He strode slowly next to Sakura's bed.

_What was I thinking? _thought Deidara. _If they find her with me... either they'll think that she's working with me, or that I took her. I can't even take care of her well, they could do better in the village... so why did I bring her here?_

She whispered something in her sleep and her head turned to one side, spilling her hair over the blanket she was on. Deidara leaned down and adjusted her position, so she would choke on blood if it came up.

The truth was, Sakura wasn't doing too well. Apparently, Zetsu had missed her heart, but just barely, and... she had bled a lot.

_Is she even going to make it? _thought Deidara, gazing down, tired at the shut eyes of the dying Kunoichi.

_She actually looks cute when she sleeps..._ thought Deidara. But then, he immediately stopped the thought in it's tracks and turned away, shutting his eyes.

_No._ he thought. _I don't deserve... love. I killed people I loved, and people that were loved by others. I better not get too close to her. _

Then, he bit his fingernails, nervous.

_And what'll I do when she wakes up? If she wakes up and sees ME... she'll freak out!_

But then he looked at her again, at the blood soaking through the strips of cloth he had wound around her...

_She's too weak to freak out. I'll find out what happens as I go._

Deidara yawned. The storm still raged outside, making the thin sheet hung over the mouth of the small cave flap madly, letting in some of the pouring rain.

He walked to his bed and lay down. But he didn't go to sleep immediately. Instead, he spent a while gazing at the ceiling thinking about his new task before closing his eyes.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well?" said Madara from behind his mask. "What is Deidara's status?"

A man dressed in a black cloak decorated with a golden swirl on the back stood quitely behind him.

"He has completely gone back to his original state. He no longer has any loyalty to the Akatsuki."

"Shame." muttered Madara.

"Indeed." responded the man in black. "But I believe that there is a way to bring him back."

Madara met this comment with apparent interest. "Really?" he said. "I would like that... Deidara is a very valuable member of the Akatsuki. We need him for our victory."

The man in black looked pleased.

"But," said Madara, "We do not have the time to go after him."

"Sir." said the man. He had clearly already prepared for that sort of scenario. "With your permition, I request that you let us go after X-8 and retrieve him for you. Free. We have the resources, and we can restore him to his other state."

"I still do not understand why you refuse to refer to him as 'Deidara', but if you insist then you have my full permission. Be fast."

The man in black smirked darkly.

"Oh, don't you worry ." he said. As he turned, his cloak swirled around him.

"We can do that. Easily."

Then, he left.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara opened his eyes in a strange place.

"Where am I?" he said. His voice echoed off the cave walls...

He was in a cave, sitting on something. Deidara looked down...

And screamed. Under him were all the faces of the people he had known before in school... with Sakura and Naruto and Gaara all added...

Sasori sat next to him, unmoving.

He recognized this place... it was the cave from that time the Akatsuki had taken Gaara...

Deidara looked up and saw all the ninjas standing around him. Naruto was with them, a look of horrible rage on his face. But something was wrong. They were all frozen.

He stood up and walked over to Sakura. She was motionless as well, her face with a shocked expression.

"What's going on?" he asked, backing away. His voice had that same echoing quality as before.

And then, the world went white and Deidara saw someone standing in front of him.

It... it was...

"Me?" said Deidara, surprised.

But it wasn't really him. It was him dressed as an Akatsuki, a ring adorning his hand with a cruel expression on his insane, twisted face.

"No... me from before!" he said, stepping back.

"From before?" said the strange clone, smiling. "I'm still you. I will always be you, within you."

"What?" stammered Deidara, completely confused. "What the- no! I left the Akatsuki!"

"No you didn't," taunted the clone, moving closer. Deidara backed away a few more steps. "Once an Akatsuki... ALWAYS AN AKATSUKI!" Then, the clone threw it's head back and laughed like a madman.

"No! I'm not like you!" shouted Deidara.

"You want proof?" said the clone, coming closer.

Deidara swung a fist at the air, and it clashed with some sort of surface. His clone's fist was touching his... but cracks were spreading all over the clone...

_A... a mirror?_ though Deidara.

But apparently it was more than a mirror. The mirror image's fist turned into some sort of black goo and started oozing up Deidara's hand.

Deidara cried out and tried to pull free, but the mirror image only laughed. Soon, his entire arm was covered. Then, his torso.

And it turned into an Akatsuki robe.

With a burst of strength, Deidara tore off the garment, but then he also tore his shirt and the mouth on his chest burst forward, it's tongue waving around in the air. It let out a monstrous screech.

Then, he saw a clone of himself, dressed as Akatsuki, above him on a bird. The clone laughed as it pelted him with birds that exploded around him. Deidara fell, shaking his head wildly.

"No... I'm not like you!" he shouted. "I'm not you! And I'm never going back to the Akatsuki, ever!"

"But don't you want to make art?" said his clone. "After all... ART... is an EXPLOSION!"

"NOOOOOOOO...!" shouted Deidara and sat up.

He was in his bed in the small cave. But what had woken him up wasn't the dream. It was the horrible shocking electricity that filled him.

It was like lightning bolts had been fired through him. And then, just like that... it stopped.

Deidara became aware of a beeping noise that slowly died down. It came from the small machine on the side of his head.

"Virus contained." it said in a soft metallic voice, and then the beeping ceased.

_It was that sentence._ thought Deidara, gasping. His blanket was wound around him and sweat dripped off his forehead. _About art..._

Then, he suddenly heard a moan. He glanced over at Sakura.

"Wa...ter..." she whispered.

Deidara quickly got up and walked over to her bed, picking up a small container of water along the way.

"Can you drink?" he said softly holding the container near her.

Sakura didn't answer, instead grabbing the container and pouring it's contents into her mouth. But when she tried to swallow, she found that she couldn't. She spit the water out.

Deidara blinked.

_What do I do now?_ he thought.

Then. he had an idea. He grabbed his knives.

"Um..." he said. Talking to weapons still felt stupid. "Make me a tube. With a needle on it."

A tube of glass suddenly sprouted from one of the knives and wove itself through Deidara's hands, growing thinner and ending in a sharp point.

Deidara slid the point into the inside of Sakura's elbow and slowly tipped the water container into the open end of the tube.

And then Sakura fell asleep again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Sakura woke up for the second time, her thoughts were much cleared. She blinked and turned her head lazily.

And then, she remembered.

_Didn't Deidara pick me up? _she thought. Then, another thought surfaced.

_Why aren't I dead?_

She looked at herself.

_Huh. _she thought. _I'm wrapped in bandages. _

That's when her eyes flew open and Inner Sakura shouted out to her.

_HE CHANGED MY CLOTHES?_

She looked up and saw someone leaning over her, and using the last of her strength, swung her fist up and punched him.

The satisfaction of having punched the person who had... erm, disrobed her... was followed by an unhappy "Ow!"

Her eyes couldn't focus right, but she saw the person lean over her again.

"That wasn't very nice, you know." he said.

"You. Changed. My. Clothes." hissed Sakura. "Pervert...!"

"What?" said the person.

Sakura's eyes focused a little more, and she saw the familiar blonde ponytail.

"I'm sorry, I had to!" said Deidara, blushing. "I didn't want you to die...!"

"Why not?" croaked Sakura. Her throat felt awful, along with the rest of her body. "You're from the Akatsuki. Zetsu tried to kill me. Why wouldn't you-"

"I'm not part of the Akatsuki." said Deidara, looking over at something else.

Sakura tried to lift her head, but failed. "Yes, you are!" she said weakly. "You killed Gaara once... and, and-"

"Yeah... that wasn't really me. Well, it was SORT OF me, but not actually, because that was the other me. Well, I'm the other me... no, wait. I'm the original me. But he is... he was..."

"You make no sense!" said Sakura.

Deidara sighed, feeling Sakura's glare on him. "To make a long story short... I was insane. Now... I'm not insane!" he gave her a hopeful smile.

"Well, I'm not buying it." she said, turning away from him.

Deidara's mouth dropped open. "B-b-but..." he stammered. "I just saved your life!"

"Still not buying it." said Sakura. "You're evil. You and the rest of your Akatsuki comrades."

Deidara blinked. Then, he smiled and pointed one finger in the air.

"Of course! You're just not thinking clearly. You obviously need some rest!"

"What?" shouted Sakura, furious. "Of course I'm thinking-!"

"Shhh." said Deidara while he leaned over, his grin spreading. "You should sleep."

His response from her was getting slapped.

"Hey!" he said indignantly. "Stop doing that!"

"Let me go!" seethed Sakura.

"No, I can't, not yet." sighed Deidara. "You can't even walk! You need to rest. See, I knew you weren't thinking clearly!" and before Sakura could hit him again, he stood up and walked out of Sakura's line of sight.

"Why, you...!" she hissed. "Come back here! I haven't finished hitting you yet!"

"And I have no intention of letting you." said Deidara, from what seemed now like miles away.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered.

_So sleepy..._ she thought. _But... can I really fall asleep with him nearby? What if he... he..._

But then her eyes shut and relaxed all her tense muscles. A shadow fell over her.

_He's probably back not that I can't do... anything... _was Sakura's last thought before she slipped into a deep sleep.


	5. Trust

**Author's Note: Well... here you go! More reviews have started coming in... AND ME LIKEY REVIEWS. So, thanks to Kate (), xXSapphirefox-Fan19x, and the mystery person who though I do not know their identity, they make me happy!**

**Many have commented that this story is different from the others they've read. I don't know how I got the "He was actually insane the whole time" idea from... Idunno, It just came to me! Oh, If you thought that Sakura's reason of attempted murder was really vague/bad... that's explained in this chapter! SO READ ON, AND DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW. EVEN IF YOU ALREADY DID. THANK YOOOOOU ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I'm tired. Wait, no. Wrong words. Uh... I don't own Naruto. Or the characters. YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY...! Wait. Why did I just say that...? Huh. I must be REALLY tired.**

Chapter Five

Kisame was bored.

"Ugh, I want something to DO." he said.

"We must be patient until our leader tells us what to do." said Itachi for the millionth time.

"But I don't want to wait. I want to do something NOW. Fight, kill someone, anything!" he moaned.

Itachi was silent, only gazing out of the cave that they were in.

"We must wait." he finally said.

Kisame picked up his sword and flipped in into the air, catching it as it came down.

"I know a really bad idea when I see one." said a voice. Itachi and his partner turned in surprise.

There was a man in a black cloak standing in front of them, with his hood over his face, hiding it in darkness. Only his mouth was visible, curled into a small smile.

"Hey! Who're you?" said Kisame, standing up.

The man ignored him completely. "You shouldn't do that with your sword. Someone might get hurt."

"Who are you?" said Itachi, echoing his partner and standing up as well.

"I'm not here to fight you." said the man. "Sit."

Itachi and Kisame stayed standing.

"Yeah, like I'm going to believe that!" sneered Kisame.

"No, really." said the stranger. "I have news from your leader."

"What? Is Nagato finally giving us something to do?" asked Kisame. His face radiated pure hostility and suspicion.

"No." said the man. "I am. It has come to my attention that you are doing nothing. Well, I will give you something to do, to help the Akatsuki."

"And why would I help _you_?" said Kisame.

"I thought you'd ask something like that." said the man. "I overheard you saying that you were bored. Don't you want something to do?"

Kisame frowned "Well, I'm not going out on a pointless little field trip just to-"

"What is this this mission that you speak of?" asked Itachi.

"Hey!" said Kisame. "Why did you-"

"I think that you'll enjoy it." said the man. "I want you to-"

Kisame's eyes narrowed. "No! Itachi, why should we go on any-"

"Hush." said Itachi. Kisame's left eye twitched. "But-"

"Your partner is right." said the man, slightly annoyed. "Be silent."

Kisame muttered something under his breath, but didn't interrupt again.

"Anyway." said the man. "I think that you'll enjoy this mission."

The two partners listened closely.

"What is the mission?" said Itachi quietly.

"You remember X- I mean, Deidara?" said the man, leaning against the humid cave wall.

"Yeah..." said Kisame, raising a single eyebrow. "So?"

"Well, he has... gone bad. He's returned to his weaker state, where he isn't part of the Akatsuki."

"I don't get it." said Kisame.

"Explain yourself." said Itachi.

The man sighed. _I really didn't want to say it this way... but I must._ he thought.

"Your fellow Akatsuki has turned... sane again. And he has left. I know how to bring him back... but you must capture him for me."

"Alive?" said Kisame in utter disbelief. "But... that's impossible! He make himself blow up-"

And then Itachi cut in.

"Impossible." he said. "We saw his explosion light up the forest. He's dead."

"Nope." said the man. "He's alive. Very alive. And I want you to accept this mission. Now, do you want to do this, or not?"

Kisame turned to Itachi.

"It's up to you." he said. "You're the smarter one."

Itachi thought for a moment.

"Fine." he said. "We'll go on your mission."

"Excellent." said the man. "He was last sighted in the village of Kareru. Find him."

The two turned to leave and prepare for the journey.

"Oh, and one more thing." said the man. Itachi and Kisame paused.

"If you happen to see a pink haired girl, Sakura..." he said softly, in a sly voice. "Do kill her, please. Or even better, bring her to me alive. But you have my full permission to kill her."

"I've seen Sakura. I know what she looks like." said Itachi, and then he exited the cave.

Kisame shrugged. "Whatever. Something to do." he muttered, and followed Itachi out.

Once he sensed their chakras fade into the distance, the man in the long, swirling cloak chuckled.

Then, he opened his hand. In it rested a small, round circle made of glass.

It glowed blue, and then a small hologram of a humanoid shape appeared above it, sitting cross-legged and floating.

"So?" said the hologram. "What did you tell them?"

"Fools. I told them all that I wanted to help them bring Deidara back to the Akatsuki. And they all believed it!" said the man in black smugly. A self-congratulatory grin spread across his face.

"And the girl, Sakura?" the hologram asked, unfolding its legs and standing.

"Oh, I told some Akatsuki called Zetsu that Nagato was concerned about Sakura's strength. I'm surprised he even believed that one, vague as it was!" said the man in black, sliding down the wall and sitting on the damp floor.

"The girl... is she dead?" the hologram asked.

"Well... Zetsu reported that he killed her, but..." the man frowned. "She _is_ a medical-nin after all... she might have lived, somehow. So I sent these two idiots after her too."

"Very good. Everything is going according to plan." said the hologram. "We must do everything that we can to prevent the Bird and the Spider from getting together at all costs. But remember, we need the Spider, Deidara, alive. It's the only way to summon... him."

The man sitting on the cavern floor frowned "You mean Octav-"

A wind rushed through the cave, chilling him to the bone.

"Fool!" shouted the person in the hologram. "Do not say his name."

"Oh, come on. You're being superstitious." said the man in black, rolling his eyes.

"It brings bad luck. This is no superstition, this is reality. Be careful, Onagodi... you have been known to be careless."

The man in black huffed. "Fine." he said.

The hologram nodded. "Now, join your comrades and return to the Maika headquarters nearest to you. Hurry, they're running low on workers. Get a new assignment."

"Yes, sir." said the man, standing up.

"We will bring the end of this world of pigs and fools! The power of the Bird and the Spider are OURS! We, the enlightened will summon the lord of destruction... LONG LIVE THE MAIKA!" chanted the hologram.

"Long live the Maika! The lord of destruction lives!" responded Onagodi. And with that, the hologram disappeared and the glass circle grew dim.

Onagodi turned and slid the small glass circle into his pocket. Then, he strode out of the cave, his cloak fluttering behind him.

The delicate swirl embroidered on the back of the midnight-black cloak rippled in the breeze.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Sakura woke up for the third time, she found that she was starving.

"Ugh..." she moaned. Her entire body ached, and she still couldn't move yet. Her bandages had been changed again.

_PERVERT!_ shouted Inner Sakura.

"Ah! You're awake!" Sakura heard someone say.

"I'm starving." said Sakura. "Is this your plan? To slowly starve me to death?"

Deidara appeared by her side. He raised an eyebrow.

"I made soup." he said. "Doesn't that count as food?"

Sakura eyes his innocent expression suspiciously. "Why are you doing this?" she said.

"Doing what?" asked Deidara, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Don't act like you don't know!" hollered Sakura, turning slightly red. "The whole- saving my life thing-"

"Hey!" said Deidara brightly. "You're turning red! That's a good sign, the blood is returning to you! Ooooh, I should check something, yeah." Then he stood up and walked off somewhere else in the cave.

Sakura heard his footsteps getting farther away with rage. "HEY!" she yelled. "Did... did you just catch anything that I just said?"

"What?" she heard Deidara reply.

"The thing about... why are you saving my life!" said Sakura. "Don't mess with me!"

"I'm not messing with you, I heard that, yeah." said Deidara, coming back and putting something on the glass tube that was sticking out of her arm.

Sakura felt his cool fingers lightly brush her skin, and she shivered.

Deidara looked up. "If you're cold, I could-"

She slapped him.

"Ow, ow, ow... you slap hard...!" moaned Deidara, rubbing his cheek.

"ANSWER MY QUESTION!" she yelled, furious. "Why are you HELPING ME?"

"Okay, didn't we already go over this, yeah?" said Deidara, frowning. "The whole... I used to be insane but now I'm not thing?"

"I don't believe a word of it." hissed Sakura, giving him a murderous glare.

Deidara melted under Sakura's fierce staring power. "I... I'm not messing with you!" he said, holding up his hands.

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to do.

"GAAAH!" shouted Sakura, clearly traumatized, weakly pulling some of her covers close to her.

"Oh... oh yeah." said Deidara, reaching for a small ledge in the rock wall. He drew out a pair of brown gloves and slipped them on. "I'm not good at controlling these things anymore."

Sakura just sat there, staring straight ahead.

"Whaaat?" said Deidara crossly. "You've never seen someone with mouths on their hands?"

Sakura shook her head. "Wh-whatever!" she groaned, releasing her grip on her covers and sliding back down into her bed, exhausted.

"I still don't understand." she whispered hoarsely. "Why are you helping me?"

Deidara's blue eyes met Sakura's jade ones.

"Because I can now." he said, a small, sad smile turning the corners of his lips up.

Sakura drowsily gazed at Deidara as he turned to get something. When he turned back, he was holding a bowl.

"Here. You should have this." he said, holding it out."

Sakura just lay there, her eyes dim.

"Can you eat?" asked Deidara, lowering the soup.

Sakura felt wave after wave of exhaustion crash onto her. She feebly shook her head.

Deidara thought for a second. "I'll feed it to you, then." he said, smiling.

That smile... so welcoming...

_HEY!_ said Inner Sakura, steaming. _You're strong! You can eat yourself, you don't need some S-Class criminal to FEED YOU!"_

_ What do I do instead? _thought Sakura. _Starve?_

And Inner Sakura was silent.

_Thought so._

And then there was a spoon in her mouth, tipping in warm broth.

The liquid rushed down her throat, making Sakura realize that she was parched. With a small surge of strength, she surprised Deidara by grabbing the bowl and tipping the rest of it's contents into her mouth. Then, satisfied, she shoved it back into his hands and curled up in her bed.

"Well." said Deidara, still holding a spoon. "There's another way to... eat soup..."

But Sakura was already descending into a deep sleep.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Gaara walked through the gates of Konoha, with a few guards around him.

"Kazekage, sir!" one of them said. "We must find a place to rest before your meeting. We have travelled a long way to get here."

"Yes." said Gaara. "Hopefully, this'll make trading easier. After all, it's good if the villages are closer together."

But then, he stopped walking and turned to his guards. "But first," he said. "I would like to visit my old friend, Naruto."

The head of the guards nodded. "I will go find a place to rest. Follow me!" he called to his fellow guards, and they walked after him.

Gaara looked around, and saw a group of people standing around a sobbing girl with a yellow ponytail.

"It's all right, Ino." said a girl with blank eyes, laying a hand on the weeping girl's shoulder. "She's strong. She'll come back, I know it!"

"No, she's dead, she's dead, she's dead!" cried the blonde girl, Ino, and ran off.

"Ino!" shouted the blank-eyed girl, and ran after her.

Gaara gazed at the scene.

_Sometimes, being a ninja can really hurt._ he thought. _I hope whoever her friend is is all right._

Then, he approached the group.

"Hello." he said.

Some of the kids mumbled a greeting.

"Do any of you know where I can find Naruto?" he asked.

Some of the people looked at each other.

"Um... if you REALLY want to see him, he's in his house." said a boy.

Gaara turned to leave.

"But... I don't recommend it." he said.

"Wait, why-?" when he turned around, everyone had left.

"Huh." he said. "That was peculiar."

He eventually arrived at Naruto's house and knocked on the door.

"Hello?" he called. He knocked again, harder this time... and the door swung open.

Gaara peeked in.

_Well, I guess that if the door's unlocked I can come in..._ he thought. _But that's strange... why wouldn't the door be closed?_

He shrugged, and knocked on the door from the inside again.

"Go away." he heard.

"It's me, Gaara." said Gaara, frowning.

"It doesn't matter." he heard.

_Okay..._ thought Gaara. _NOW I'm confused._

"Is everything all right?" asked Gaara, taking a step towards the sound of Naruto's voice. "The door was open, so-"

And then Naruto walked out of his room.

"Naruto...?" said Gaara.

He looked... terrible.

"Gaara." he whispered. "It's... it's Sakura."

Gaara's eyes widened. "Sakura?" he asked. "What happened to Sakura?"

"Sakura..." Naruto gulped. "Sakura... is..."

Then he gritted his teeth as angry tears cascaded down his cheeks.

"Oh, Naruto...!" he said.

"She's been declared dead." said Naruto, his voice devoid of any emotion. "They looked for her everywhere. Nothing."

Gaara bowed his head.

"I bet she's alive." he said. "Sakura's stronger than that."

Naruto looked into Gaara's eyes, and what Gaara saw was a broken soul.

"Not strong enough." he whispered. "Not strong enough."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The screams rose from Kareru at midnight.

"No!" said a frightened man. "I... I don't know where he went! Just... let my daughter go!"

Kisame just laughed as a young girl struggled for air in one of his water prisons.

"Are you sure?" he asked. The girl's eyes rolled up in her head and she sank to the bottom of the watery sphere.

"Kisame, control yourself." he heard, and released the water prison. The girl lay gasping on the floor.

"What?" said Kisame. "Can't I just have some fun?"

Itachi shook his head. "I have found someone that saw which direction Deidara went in. He lost him, but it's a start. Let's go."

Kisame looked over at the cowering man, backed against the wall, shaking.

"Now." finished Itachi.

"Fine." said Kisame, and walked out the door after him.


	6. Escape

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long to update... sorry these author's notes are so short... and thanks for readin'!**

**Disclaimer: Only the people that own Naruto own Naruto. Me NOT included.**

Chapter Six

When Sakura woke up again, she realized something very important.

Her chakra had come back!

She looked around tentatively. Now, if only she could sneak past that creepy...

"G'morning!" she heard, and groaned.

"Don't you EVER sleep?" she said.

Deidara walked over. "I take caution to sleep only when you do. After all, weren't you planning on escaping just now?"

"Wha...?" said Sakura.

_Can he FREAKIN' READ MINDS?_

"I thought so!" said Deidara. "Anyway, you should use the chakra to heal yourself."

_He's right_. thought Sakura resentfully.

"Fine, whatever!" she groaned, and concentrated as she started to glow.

Deidara walked away to do... well, whatever he spent the day doing, Sakura guessed.

She felt her insides slowly repairing herself, and smiled.

_Haha, Zetsu! _she thought, smirking. _Your little snack isn't as weak as you thought she was!_

_ Wait a minute. _she thought, frowning. _You only survived because some Akatsuki saw you and rescued you._

She glanced over at Deidara, who appeared to be sewing something.

_What a strange Akatsuki, though..._ she thought, propping herself up on her elbows. _He's not even dressed as an Akatsuki! Or... hey, where's the ring?_

Her eyes darted over to his hands. There was nothing.

_And he saved me._

Sakura looked over at the blonde. He didn't _look_ evil...

"Deidara?" she called. Deidara looked up, and met her jade eyes.

"Hm?" he said, questioningly.

"You aren't dressed as an Akatsuki." said Sakura accusingly.

Deidara opened his mouth to talk, but Sakura cut him off. "You have no ring, and... you saved me. What kind of Akatsuki _are_ you?"

Deidara looked down and smiled sadly. "The kind who isn't one."

Sakura narrowed her eyes. "Will you tell me the whole story?"

"Are you done healing yourself?" asked Deidara, looking down again.

"Wha-? You're ignoring me!" shouted Sakura, her anger flaring up. "Listen to me, and answer my question: Why are you helping me? What are you? I want to know every detail of why-!"

"Sakura." said Deidara, standing up and looking at her thoughtfully. "I would like to tell you everything... but I fear that I don't actually KNOW the full story.

"Then, what do you know? Or remember?" said Sakura, baffled.

Deidara sat next to her bed.

"I remember when my father killed my mother." he said.

Sakura stopped talking.

"My father hadn't been quite himself and had done some... rather nasty things, so my mother did what anyone would do. She banished him from our house."

Sakura sat up in bed now, as the healing progressed. Her eyes scanned Deidara's face, looking for any sign that this was a lie. But she found herself lost in his eyes, eyes that seemed to gaze back through the years.

"One day, I remember I was sitting and reading a book when the door opened. A man stumbled in, dirty and disheveled. But I still recognized who he was. It was my father."

Deidara closed his eyes. "And I remember shouting, 'Daddy! Daddy, you came back!'..."

And then Deidara opened his eyes, gazing intently at the ceiling.

"And that was when he turned completely inside out and transformed into a hulking monster with eight spider legs and eight mouths, all ripped across his mishapen body..."

"He picked me up and set a curse on me. Said that I would go insane once I killed my first person. And mouths started ripping themselves across me... that's when my mother ran in holding something in her hands. What she was holding, I'll never know... but it created a swirling portal, that started to drag my father into it."

Deidara's voice lowered to a whisper. "But not before... he could maul my mother and kill her. And then the portal closed, and I was left kneeling before the bloodied corpse of my mom."

Sakura blinked. "That's... that's horrible." She said. "But-"

Deidara held up a finger. "I'm not finished yet." he said, and Sakura was silent.

"I was sent to an orphanage, where I was teased endlessly for the unnatural mouths on my hands that I had little control of. Some time later, I discovered that I could make birds with them. The rest of the children, fearing me, confronted me in a huge group. The leader was called... Katsu. They beat me until the rays of the sun started peeking over the horizon. And somehow, they got ahold of a bird I'd made."

"And I screamed, a long, drawn out scream, and suddenly I heard an explosion and was coated in warm blood, dripping down me in rivers.."

He turned towards Sakura, who was sitting, shocked. "And then my world went hazy and dim... and that's all I remember."

"And how do I know that you're telling the truth?" said Sakura, crossing her arms.

"What the-?" said Deidara. "OH, COME ON!"

"Yeah, you heard me." said Sakura.

Deidara's left eye twitched. "I just told you the story of tragic childhood! Why won't you believe me?"

"Oh, boo-hoo." said Sakura. "Why did you really join the Akatsuki?"

Deidara brought his hands up to his head and leaned back.

"Aaaah, you're evil! Truly evil!" he groaned.

"SAYS THE ASSASIN!" shouted Sakura. "YOU'RE the evil one!"

"No, you are!" said Deidara.

And then the healing was done, Sakura felt it.

"So long, loser!" she shouted, and vaulted over his head.

"What the-? Hey! Wait!" he shouted whipping around.

He needn't have worried. Sakura collapsed on the ground, crying out in pain.

"Sakura? Um... why did you just do that? Are you insane?" said Deidara.

"No... but you were." quipped Sakura, seeing his worried face above her before she fell into unconsciousness.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A man dressed in black jumped from tree to tree, A golden swirl sewn on the back of his black shirt.

"Master!" he said, opening his fist. On it sat a glass circle.

A hologram appeared. "What, what is it?" said the transparent figure.

"This is an emergency!" said the man, frantic. "The Birds and the Spider are together!"

"WHAT?" shouted the hologram. The man in black flinched. "What do you mean? How did this happen?"

The man gulped. "Well, one of them-"

"Okay, you know what?" said the hologram. "I don't care. Just capture them. There's been a change of plans. Capture them both. We need them both. But, above all, keep them apart! There is no knowing what could happen if... well, you know."

"Yes, sir." said the man. "I will inform the Akatsuki."

"We will bring the end of this world of pigs and fools! The power of the Bird and the Spider are OURS! We, the enlightened will summon the lord of destruction... LONG LIVE THE MAIKA!" chanted the hologram.

"Long live the Maika! The lord of destruction lives!" responded the man in black. And with that, the hologram disappeared and the glass circle dimmed.

The man clenched his fist, and then ran in the direction of the two waiting Akatsuki.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Where IS he?" said Kisame, more than a little pissed by now.

"We have to be patient." said Itachi. "I'm sure-"

Someone leapt out from behind a tree.

"Hey! There's been a change of plans." said a man in black.

Kisame started to reach for his sword, but Itachi held him back.

"No. He is an ally. See, he has a swirl on him."

Kisame saw the swirl and backed down.

"What do you want now?" he said.

"Here. This map will help you find them." said the man, pushing a map into Itachi's hands.

"Them?" asked Itachi, looking at the map.

"Yeah, that's the change of plans." said the man. "You are to capture both Sakura and Deidara. They are together."

"What?" said Kisame, disbelieving. "Sakura and Deidara together? What kind of-"

"We will." said Itachi.

The man in black nodded and leapt off.

"Why did you say yes?" questioned Kisame, annoyed.

"What difference does it make?" said Itachi, throwing him a red-eyed glanced.

"Guess you're right." grumbled Kisame. "Let's go hunt down the traitor and the kunoichi."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sakura? Sakura, you awake?" Sakura heard, her head swimming.

Suddenly her eyes snapped open.

"YAAH!" she shouted, puching the first thing she saw... which happened to be Deidara.

"OW!" he said, rubbing his face. "Why do you keep doing that?"

"Wh-what happened?" she said, looking around. "Why did I... when-?"

"You collapsed." said Deidara, raising an eyebrow. "You weren't even half healed yet. Why did you try to escape?"

"I... I wasn't? said Sakura. She threw off her covers, and saw bloodstained bandages.

_He changed me again!_ she thought, but then she shook her head, clearing her mind of such things.

"How could I not have been half-healed?" she said, confused. Sakura ran her fingers over the bandages. "I thought..."

"Well, whatever you thought, it was wrong." said Deidara.

"But... I'm sure I did it right! I felt it!" said Sakura.

"For whatever reason, though it didn't work. So just try to rest for now." said Deidara.

"You...!" Sakura's eyes widened. "IT WAS YOU!"

"Me what?" said Deidara.

"You put some sort of... binding on me!" she said, and stood up, swaying.

"No! Don't try to stand!" said Deidara, coming forward quickly. "You'll-"

Sakura yelled, "GET AWAY!" and puched the ground. The shockwave knocked into Dedara, smacking him against the wall. He instinctively drew his knives.

Sakura gasped and stumbled back as the knives glinted in the sunlight. It took Deidara a few moments to realize his mistake, and he dropped his weapons.

"No- Sakura, I-" he said, freezing up.

Sakura ran clumsily out the door. Deidara followed, staying inside the cave.

"Sakura, come back!" he said. "It's dangerous out there!"

"Y-you're dangerous too!" she shouted back, stumbling backwards.

Deidara was about to answer...

When a shower of Kunai rained on Sakura.

"SAKURA!" howled Deidara, retrieving his knives and running forward.

She was coated in the blood that was rapidly pooled around her, breathing shallow breaths that left her body as soon as they entered.

He saw another wave of knives coming, and his knives glowed as he thrust one up. A wall of earth sprang up, mimicking his hand movement.

When the wall fell, he found himself facing two cloaked...

_It's Itachi and Kisame! They've been sent to... to..._

Deidara gritted his teeth and whirled around to run.

"Come back here, runt!" called Kisame, launching himself after him. His sword, Samehada, freed itself from it's bandages and sprouted spikes all over, like a porcupine.

"C'mere, you!" he teased, and swung the sword.

Deidara picked up Sakura in his arms, and dodged. The sword fell heavily on the ground, and as Kisame lifted it chucks of earth sprang up.

"You're mine, boy!" he laughed, and lashed out again with his monstrous weapon. Deidara rolled to the side, shielding Sakura with his body, and felt spikes cut into his back.

His eyes glowed blue.

"Whatcha doin' now, boy?" said Kisame, looking over...

And then Deidara lashed out, planting a well-aimed kick in Kisame's face. Kisame was thrown back, and Samehada rolled from his grasp.

Deidara looked down at Sakura, who made a small noise in his arms.

_Oh no._ he thought, worried. _I've gotta get her to-_

And then, a line of shruriken interruped his thoughts. He jumped up, and the shuriken whizzed past him and thudded into trees.

It was Itachi, standing still a distance away.

"No!" said Kisame. "This is my fight. I wanted something interesting to do for so long!"

He licked his lips and stood.

"I'll get them."

Then he cackled and sprung forward, raising his sword.

Deidara dodged and spun, raising a leg to kick Kisame. Kisame dodged the blow and instead grabbed the blonde's leg and swung him over his head. He fell to the ground, Sakura still in his grasp.

His eyes glowed brighter blue, and he grabbed a knife.

"Oooh, I'm so scared!" taunted Kisame. He sneered. "What are you going to do with those toys, use them to-"

No one ever found out what Kisame wanted to say next, because the ground rumbled and Deidara pointed his glowing knife at the shark-like person before him. And a thick wall of roots burst through the ground, blasting chunks of earth everywhere.

Kisame's eyes barely had time to widen as the long, woody ropes changes direction and hurtled at him.

He dodged them expertly, leaping from side to side. One barely missed him, thudding into the ground between his legs. He tripped, and then ripped the vines out of his face, annoyed.

"He's gone!" he said to himself, and then closed his eyes.

"But I can sense them!" he said, and smiled as he followed the two presences getting farther away.

Deidara jumped through his trees, running for his and Sakura's life. But Sakura's life was getting harder to run for... especially when it was slowly draining out of her.

"Nice try, boy... but you can't fool me!" he heard, and turned.

Kisame jumped off of a nearby branch, falling into step beside him. Deidara quickly gave him a glance and tried to go faster.

Kisame matched his speed effortlessly.

"Nowhere to run, boy! Nowhere to hide." he said. "So why don't you just give up?"

Deidara clenched his fist.

"Because... THERE'S SOMEONE RELYING ON ME!" he shouted. His knives glowed radiantly like the sun, and a wind swirled around him.

Kisame was confused.

"What're you tryin' to pull?" he muttered.

Suddenly, Deidara started glowing. Kisame squinted into the light.

"Open..." he said.

_What's he doing? This... is it some sort of Jutsu?_

"Open... door..." said Deidara, and screeched to a stop.

Kisame stopped next to him.

"You must be really stupid, stopping like that!" he said. But inside, nervousness was stirring in the pit of his stomach...

"Open... door... OF AWAKENING!" Shouted Deidara, and with that blue light burst from him, blinding Kisame. The mutant stumbled back, shielding his eyes with his sword.

He blinked rapidly "What in the name of-?"

Deidara shouted and zoomed forward, proppelled by some unseen force, and kicked Kisame up into the air. Kisame took advantage of the opportunity, raising his sword and bringing it down as he fell-

But Deidara dodged it easily and swung his fist up. It caught Kisame's chin, making him fall off the tree he was on. He crashed into the ground, sending leaves into a frenzy all around him.

As Kisame started to get up, Deidara came down with the force of ten men and hit the ground. Jagged spikes rose from the ground, and Kisame cried out in pain.

"Give up!" said Deidara, his mouth glowing so brightly that not even his teeth were visible.

"NEVER!" responded Kisame, kicking up. Deidara caught his leg and hurled him away, and Kisame crashed into a tree. All the leaves fell off with the force of the blow.

Kisame reached for Samehada. "Why, you...!" he said.

But Deidara stepped on his hand, crushing it, and seized Kisame's throat as he lifted him up and smacked him against a tree.

"How... how did you... do it?" Kisame choked out.

Deidara gave no answer.

"Why are you after us?" he said, not even trying to hide the raw rage in his voice.

"That's for me to know, and for you-"

Samehada sprung into his hand.

"TO DIE!" he shouted, and as he brought the sword down-

Deidara jumped up, Sakura's blood raining down from the sky. The ground under Kisame rumbled, and he fell as a bird sprung from the earth and ascended until it was under the blonde and the limp girl he carried in his arms.

"THIS ISN'T OVER!" shouted Kisame, as he saw the young boy's light fade.

This had been one serious blow to Kisame's honor... to be beaten so easily.

"ITACHI!" he howled. "Why didn't you help me?"

"You told me to stay out of it." he said quietly from a tree branch. "I only did what you said."

"Well, you shouldn't have listened." muttered Kisame, watching the small dot in the sky grow smaller and smaller still.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara landed a few miles away, when he spotted a small cave.

He landed quickly, and then laid Sakura down on the ground.

"Sakura!" he shouted, pulling Kunai from her flesh. "Sakura!"

Sakura didn't respond, only stayed where she was, as blood dripped from her mouth.

"No...!" he said. Tears of exhaustion and frustration started dripping from his eyes onto Sakura's limp body. "Sakura, no...!"

"It should have been me... it should've been...!" he gulped.

"It... really... sh-should have..." he heard, and gasped.

Sakura's eyes opened a crack, and she coughed thick, warm blood onto him.

"Sakura!" he said.

The pain ripped through the small, pink-haired girl, and she cried out as she woke up to the full pain of the kunai.

She latched on to Deidara, clutching his shoulder with one hand and the folds of his clothes with the others.

"Don't go.. don't go..." she whispered.

"I'm... I'm not leaving." he said, and gently laid her across himself, putting her head on his shoulder. He stood up.

_I need to find the nearest village..._ he thought.

Sakura shook in his arms and sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's okay." he said softly. "I'm going to fix you. You're going to live!"

This just made Sakura cry more, and she sputtered as more blood came up and dripped down Deidara's back.

He didn't mind.

"Thank... you..." she said, as she felt herself rising into the air with Deidara on his bird. He was... so soft,and warm too...

She snuggled into him, burrowing her head into his shoulder, and he reached up and stroked her matted pink hair.

"You should rest." he whispered into her ear, and then she closed her eyes and slept.


	7. Picture

**Author's Note: Well, here! Chapter Seven! Things are getting dramatic, aren't they? ANYHOO. Expect a very special list towards at the end of this chapter... and happy reading! Oh, and PLEASE REVIEW! I need reviews now more than ever. If you are reading this, review. PLEEEEEEEEASE. FOR ME! Oh, and P.S... I MADE A FANART FOR THIS BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE EVER WILL. HERE: .com/#/d3eetyh **

**Disclaimer: This lil' muffin does not own Naruto. Wait, what did I just call myself?**

Chapter Seven

The cries went up in the small village around noon.

"Look! There, what's that?"

"I don't know... why-?"

"Quick, call a doctor!"  
>"Why, what's going on?"<p>

"Some guy holding a dying girl just crash landed on a bird and collapsed!"

"A... a _bird_?"

"JUST DO IT! Now, quickly!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara peeled some gauze off of his arm and glanced towards Sakura for the millionth time.

"Is she going to wake up?" he asked the doctor nervously.

"Yes." said the doctor, scribbling something on a chart.

"When?" said Deidara.

"Not now." the doctor responded, hanging the chart on a hook.

Deidara fidgeted. "How 'bout now?"

The doctor turned to him with an utterly bored expression. "Not. Now." he said slowly, as if the teenage blonde was a toddler.

"Wait... so-" Deidara began-

"Not now, not NOW, NOT NOW. How many times do I have to tell you?" the doctor yelled, huffing and storming out the door.

Deidara sighed and flopped back onto his bed. He only had to be there for a little while longer until he was discharged...

His head turned towards where Sakura lay, his hair spilling all over the bed behind him...

Just in time to see her eyes open a crack.

"Sakura!" he said in surprise, and rolled off the bed.

Sakura blinked, taking in all the blurry shapes around her.

"Ow, ow ow... why isn't there carpet here...?" she heard, and forced her eyes to focus just as Deidara stood up.

"How do you feel?" he said curiously.

Sakura slowly looked down at herself, gazing at her freshly... changed... bandages...

And swung her fist upwards.

"OW!" said Deidara, taking a step back. "That hurt!"

"Stop changing my bandages, you PERVERT!" she shouted at him from the bed.

"It wasn't me, it was the doctor!" said Deidara.

Her eyes narrowed.

"And just who IS this 'doctor'?" asked Sakura.

"Some guy." said Deidara, shrugging.

His eyes flickered to the right and he saw Sakura staring at him intensely.

"What did I do NOW?" he said.

"It's not what you ARE doing. It's what you aren't doing." said Sakura.

Deidara turned. "As in?"

"Blowing stuff up." said Sakura. "Leaving me to die."

"Don't tell me you WANTED me to leave you to die!" said Deidara in frustration, throwing his hands up.

"No." said Sakura. "But-"

The door opened and a doctor walked in.

"Someone's here to see you." said the doctor.

"Who could it possibly be?" asked Deidara, exasperate.

"Er... two nice young men with very strange names. Ikachi, and... Kasime, was it?

"Aw, crap." muttered Deidara. He stood up and reached for his coat.

"Well, doctor, it's been nice seeing you, but... I think we have to go now." he said, pulling on his coat and shrugging into it's rough brown material.

"But... the girl isn't healed yet! Our healers aren't done with her!" sputtered the doctor.

"Can she walk?" asked Deidara.

"W-well..." the doctor sputtered. "Yes, a little, but-"

"That's all I need to know." said Deidara, and with that he scooped up a very surprised Sakura and vaulted out the window.

"Wait!" shouted the doctor. "Come back!"

Sakura kicked in Deidara's arms. "Let me go!" she said.

"Hey!" said Deidara, blocking his face. "Trying to save both our lives here!"

"I'm tired of running!" hissed Sakura, her eyes blazing. "We should fight, not flee!"

"Are you _nuts_?" said Deidara, glancing back as he sprinted towards the forest, where his bird was "parked". "The two of us against two highly skilled S-Class missing-nin? I don't think so."

"YOU'RE a highly skilled S-Class missing-nin!" said Sakura.

"Not anymore, I'm not." lamented Deidara, screeching to a stop under the cover of the trees in the forest. "I can barely control these crazy glowy powers."

Sakura grumbled something under her breath, and Deidara set her down. She wobbled a little on her feet, unsteady, but then she straightened up and stood tall once more.

"Those healers sure did a good job." she marveled, opening and closing her hand.

"There's the bird!" said Deidara. "C'mon!"

The two ran towards the sitting object and climbed on.

It rose, flapping, into the air.

"Yeah! We made it!" said Deidara, pumping his arm. Even Sakura's face sported a small, self-congratulatory smile-

And then she shouted and threw herself flat as two shuriken whizzed past, spinning as their razor-sharp edges glinted in the sunlight.

Deidara peeked over the edge of the bird. Two figures were quickly making their way up the trees.

"AAAAH! HURRY!" he shouted to the bird. "Go faster!"

"Why don't you just MAKE it go faster?" asked Sakura, desperate.

"How?" he asked, looking back at the rapidly gaining ninja.

"Uh... say please?" said Sakura nervously.

"I don't have time for this." muttered Deidara, and grabbed his knives. "I'll fight!"

"I'm... I'm helping!" said Sakura.

"Sakura?" said Deidara in surprise. "But... you're not..."

"I'm well enough to fight!" she said, cracking her knuckles. "Besides, I haven't gotten revenge for what they did to me."

"Fair enough, I guess?" said Deidara.

They stood on the bird, tense and ready for battle.

And then there was a blinding flash.

The two blinked.

"Wha...?" said Deidara, rubbing his eyes.

"What was that?" said Sakura.

"That was a camera." said Itachi, holding it up. "And that was just a picture of you two fighting together. I'm sure that your friends back at Konoha will be delighted at seeing your teamwork."

The color drained out of Sakura's face and she dropped to her knees.

"N-no...!" she stuttered, shaking. "Give... GIVE THAT TO ME!"

"It's too late." said Itachi. "This is a cloned camera. My clone is already heading back to Konoha right now with the real camera. He'll leave it for some leaf ninjas to find."

Deidara looked down and saw Sakura's fists clench.

"You..." she whispered. "You... did... WHAT?" Her eyes opened, wide and filled with hatred, and the chakra in her body flooded to her fists, ready to punch.

_Uh-oh. _though Deidara. He turned to Sakura. "Sakura, be.."

"YAAAAAAAAAAH!" yelled Sakura, and leapt at Itachi.

"Careful." finished Deidara.

"I guess you're mine then, blonde boy." said Kisame, licking his lips and drawing his sword.

"Oh no." groaned Deidara, whipping out his knives. "Not this again."

Kisame smiled and jumped up as water flowed from a tree nearby. The tree turned black and splintered, falling with a great splintering noise.

"YOU WILL PAY!" shouted Kisame, bringing his sword down onto Deidara's bird. Deidara jumped up and did a mid air somersault as the bird below him exploded. Flaming shrapnel flew everywhere as Deidara pointed his feet downwards as he fell like a bomb towards Kisame. Kisame looked up and jumped to the side as Deidara came down onto a branch. The branch cracked, but Deidara jumped nimbly onto another one.

He threw one of his knives, and Kisame ducked. It flew over his head, but then Deidara lifted his hand and the knife spun around and went back to Kisame's head.

"What...?" said Kisame, then turned and ducked just in time. Deidara caught the handle and straightened up, looking down on Kisame menacingly from his perch up high on a knotted branch, a dangerous look in his eyes.

Meanwhile, Sakura swung a punch, her ribs stinging. But she didn't care. All she saw was the person in front of her, looking calm and unharmed...

"GYAAAAH!" she howled, punching so hard that as Itachi swung his body to the side, she chopped a tree in half. Splinters cut into her delicate skin, making her wince as she swung around to face him.

And then Itachi's eyes went red and before Sakura could do anything... he was looking into her eyes...

Deidara jumped in front. "NO!" he shouted, and Itachi stepped back.

"I see you can deflect my sharingan's power." mused Itachi. "Clever."

"Sakura." said Deidara. "Switch with me. Now. This isn't a fair fight. The genjitsu has no effect on me!"

"But-" said Sakura.

"NOW!" shouted Deidara, seeing Kisame swing his sword up from the corner of his eye-

Sakura jumped between Deidara and the shark-like man, kicking upwards. It flew up and back, throwing Kisame off balance as he fell...

Sakura and Kisame fell through the air, meeting sometimes to swing punches.

"THIS IS NOT ALL OF MY POWER!" said Kisame, and his sword burst from it's bandages.

_Damn it!_ thought Sakura, gritting her teeth. _I can't deflect the thing if it's all spiky like that! What do I do?_

But there was no time to think about it as Kisame brought his sword around. Sakura leapt up over Kisame, and kicked back with her legs. The blow caught Kisame by surprise and he stumbled, turning as he smiled grimly.

"Not bad, girl... not good enough." he smirked, flashing his sharp, pointy teeth.

Deidara, meanwhile, reached for his bag of clay...

That wasn't there.

_OH, COME ON! _he thought, deflating. _How can I fight without clay? I barely know how to use my powers! WHAT DO I DO NOW?_

Itachi, or what was now revealed to be his clone, dissolved into crows. They wheeled around Deidara, getting sharper every time they went around.

And then they all stopped, tens of them, and flew at Deidara. There was no escape, just a swirling tornado of spiky crows, collapsing on itself.

Deidara squeezed his eyes shut and flung his arms in front of his face, shielding it.

Nothing happened.

He slowly opened his eyes.

Around him, a barely visible blue cocoon of light was pulsing lightly. All of the crows were stuck to it.

"Cool." said Deidara, and spread his arms out. The shield mimicked him, and it expanded outwards towards the real Itachi together with the crows embedded in it. He jumped back, but there were so many of them...

He dodged as best he could, but one still cut his throat and one sliced past his stomach.

"Oh yeah." said Deidara, as a small whirlwind started swirling around him. "Now THIS... is more like it."

He propelled himself at Itachi, and raised his arms. Thousands of little splinters broke off of the surrounding trees, and Deidara thrust his hands forward. The cloud of broken wood speeded towards Itachi. He stepped behind a tree, and all the splinters either flew past or bounced off the tree in front of him.

"Kisame, let's go." he said. "We can't win. Not now, not like this."

"Aw, come on!" said Kisame, landing on the ground. "But I'm having so much fun!"

Itachi darted into the leafy cover of the trees.

"Fine." muttered Kisame. "If you'll excuse me." he went after his teammate.

Deidara lightly touched down on the forest floor, and saw Sakura standing in front of him, facing the spot where the two Akatsuki had disappeared from sight.

Her fists clenched.

"Sakura..." he said, reaching for her shoulder.

She shook him off and fell to her knees. Her head dropped into her hands as she shook silently.

"They'll all hate me now." she whispered. "I'll become a... a..."

She gulped. "A missing-nin!"

Deidara lowered his hand. "Well... it's not..."

"Naruto!" she said in shame. "What will HE say?"

Deidara blinked, at a loss for an answer. Sakura stood and turned to him, tears in her eyes.

"And it's all YOUR fault!" she shouted. "If... if you had just left me, I would have... have..."

"You would have _died_." said Deidara.

"I'd rather die than face the shame that this'll bring to me and my family!" cried Sakura.

Deidara grabbed Sakura by her shoulders. "Don't you DARE talk like that." he said. "That's bad for you. You don't want to die, you want to live. You have to survive this, live through it. For whatever reason, the Akatsuki are after us both."

"How do you know that they're after both of us?" sniffed Sakura.

"Because when you walked out of the first cave we were in, instead of waiting for you to leave so they could attack me when I was alone and vunerable... they chose to hurt you."

Sakura trembled for a minute, then, finding no other source for comfort, she threw herself into Deidara's arms and crushed him with hers.

"Gak...!" Deidara choked out. "Can't... breathe...!"

Sakura loosened her grip and sobbed into his shoulder.

Deidara, surprised, swept her legs off the ground and lifted her in his strong arms. Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, and her breathing grew softer as she realized how tired she was.

Deidara carried her to a small clearing, and closed his eyes as he willed a bird to appear. The knives on his belt glowed, and a small yet functioning bird sprouted from the ground.

He stepped onto it, cradling the pink haired girl that was now asleep. It was dark, and the last rays of the sun were quickly fading.

"Gotta find somewhere to sleep." he said to himself, as the bird rose into the night sky. And Deidara stood on it, just him and Sakura in the cold night, standing tall in their battle against the world.

**Author's Note:**

**And now, for a list of under-appreciated authors that you should check out because they write AWESOME and should be praised as people who do such:**

Sakagami Hina (Awesome writer in general... love the Vocaloid stories!

hidarichan81 (For a stunning view on a bulimic/anorexic girl's life...

NarutoXHinataPie (For what is probably the best DeiSaku oneshot in the universe)

Wyntermute (Okay, THIS person has lots of fans... but still, a few more wouldn't hurt! READ Somewhere I Have Never Travelled, Gladly Beyond)

koyuki321(D. Gray man awesomesauce)

Kagawaii (Funny Luka oneshot!)


	8. Fire

**Author's Note: Um... guys? You out there, reading this?**

**I... I'm sorry, but... I feel my steam running out. Please review, okay? Okay? I REALLY WANNA FINISH THIS STORY! Motivate me please!**

**Thank you to Kate, Drake, and the mysterious Mystery person (who's true identity is unknown!)**

**Please review... if you haven't before... I love my reviews, I WUV THEM!**

Chapter Eight

A fire blazed, luminous, in the center of the dark cave, flickering and throwing shadows of the two people that sat beside it against the moist walls.

Deidara and Sakura sat at opposite ends of the fire.

Every once in a while, Deidara glanced up at Sakura to see how she was doing.

And every time he just saw the same thing. She had her knees pulled up to her chest and was staring into the fire, a dead look in her eyes.

Deidara eventually threw the stick he had been poking the ground with into the flames and stood up.

"You can't keep going like that." he said.

Sakura was silent.

"Sakura?" he said.

"Why should I go on," whispered Sakura, "If I have nothing to go on for?"

Deidara sighed and sat back down. "When you get back to your village, I'm sure you could prove that... that-"

"That I was working with you?" she said. "Yeah. They'll love that."

"You could just tell them that... that wasn't you!" said Deidara.

Sakura gave him an angry stare.

Deidara slid down against the damp cave wall. "Well... there must be some way to prove that what you were doing was... was fine."

"No I can't." moaned Sakura.

Deidara let out a long breath.

"Sakura, you have to find something to live for, or you'll stop wanting to live."

Sakura looked up, surprised at the deep comment.

"Maybe... maybe you were insane before after all." she said.

Deidara smiled.

"But I still don't like you." said Sakura.

"Wha... why?" said Deidara.

"You're annoying." said Sakura, grinning.

"Oh come ON!" Deidara said, falling back. "I saved you from dying, TWICE, helped you fight the Akatsuki... what does it take to please you, yeah?"

"Why do you care, anyway?" said Sakura, curiously. "Hey... what's YOUR reason to live?"

"My reason to live." said Deidara, "Is to find a reason to live."

"Figures." said Sakura. "But... I have a question."

"Shoot." said Deidara, sitting back up.

"Even if you are sane now... that doesn't explain why-"

They both heard a noise and tensed.

"What was that?" said Deidara.

"I don't know." said Sakura, standing up, "But that-"

"It's okay, children." said a voice. "I will not hurt you."

An old woman walked forward from the shadows were she had hidden in the back of the cave, and sat in front of the fire.

Deidara and Sakura looked at each other.

"Um, er... we didn't..." stuttered Deidara.

"We didn't know that this was... uh," Sakura went on.

"Your..."

"Your cave, we-"

The old woman held up her hand. "It wasn't my cave." she said. "I was just here."

"Uh... oh." said Deidara.

"Awkward moment..." whispered Sakura out of the corner of her mouth.

"Shush!" whispered Deidara.

"Children." said the old lady, oblivious to their whispered words. "Would you like to hear... a story?"

"A... story?" said Sakura.

Deidara tilted his head. "What kind of a story?"

"A story that's been passed down from generation to generation, hundreds of years... the story of the Bird, the Spider, and the Snake. Would you like to hear it?"

Deidara and Sakura looked at each other, and saw in each other's eyes the same baffled look. They turned back to the elderly woman.

"O...okay." said Sakura.

And the old lady began her story.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The Old Woman's Story: The Bird, the Spider, and the Snake

Once upon a time, there lived three villages. While not exactly on friendly terms, they lived in peace, apart from each other. One was called Pahana, one was called Arania, and one was called Resepen.

One day, the village of Pahana discovered that one of it's precious heirlooms was missing. They did not know which of the ones from the other villages stole them, but warned them both. None of them confessed to taking anything.

The next day, another artifact was stolen from the village of Arania. Then, later something was stolen from Resepen.

The villages blamed each other, and argued. The arguments turned into fighting, and yelling at each other, and finally the villages gave in to war.

They practically destroyed each other. When the battles were over, the three villages sent one person from each of their villages to go out into the wilderness in search of a new life.

The people sent from the villages met in the forest, and decided to stick together so they could survive. They didn't like each other very much, but it had to be done.

Before long, the girl from Pahana started to fall in love with the boy from Resepen. But the boy ignored her.

The boy from Arania saw all this, and secretly harbored his own love for the girl, but said nothing, only comforting her when he let her down.

One day, the three were out hunting when they saw something surprising.

Sitting on a nearby branch were a bird, a spider, and a snake, seemingly deep in conversation.

The three children were surprised to see the animals talk and hid nearby, but the Pahanan girl tripped and the animals turned to them.

The three started to apalogize but the animals stopped them and explained that they had been looking for three humans to pass their spirits onto them, because they were spirit-animals and needed human blood to be passed down in.

The boy from Resepen, always searching for power, asked what was in it for them. The animals responded that it would give them great powers.

So the spirits flowed into the children's souls, and the girl from Pahana became the Bird, the boy from Arania became the Spider, and the boy from Resepen became the Snake.

They were all pleased with their powers, which they learned to use after some time... except for the Snake. He saw that the other two had gotten more power than he had, and this angered him.

The one that had gotten the most power had been the girl from Pahana, the Bird, and she could fly, and heal, and was stronger than the two other boys combined.

The spider also found his own way to fly, with different methods and his powers. He had a creative and open mind, and the Bird started to notice this. They started to fall in love.

But the power-hungry Snake went to the Bird and told her that he loved her. The Bird was confused, but happy.

The Spider saw through it, and pleaded with the Snake to stop it. But the Snake acted as if he knew nothing that the Spider was talking about.

The Spider knew that he had to stop what was happening. So, with a heavy heart, he waited for night to fall.

They were all together, asleep on the ground, except for the Spider. He woke up the Bird, and whispered to her that no matter what, they would find each other again.

And then he picked up the sleeping Snake with one of his flying instruments and disappeared into the forest.

He had given the Snake a sleeping serum, and so the Snake slept until the Spider dropped him off at a village.

The Spider then went to another village.

The Birds woke up alone. After much crying over the loss of her two closest friends, she collected herself and set off to find a village.

They all got married and had children, passing along the spirits of their animals as they did so. Eventually, how to use the powers was forgotten. And this story faded away.

But the birds still remember.

And the birds still cry for their lost love.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time that the story was over, Sakura was leaning on Deidara's shoulder. She suddenly realized this and sat back up, embarrased.

"So... that's it?" said Sakura, propping her head up on her hands. "Did they ever find each other?"

The old lady said nothing, only sat and closed her eyes.

"But he promised!" blurted Sakura.

The old lady looked at her with a twinkle in her eyes. "I never said they didn't."

She stood up, and so did Deidara and Sakura.

"Well, er... thanks for the story!" said Deidara, rubbing the back of his head. "But, um... where are you going to sleep? I mean-"

The old woman dissolved into dust that spread on the wind and disappeared.

Sakura just stood there, but Deidara freaked out.

"AAAH!" he shouted, dropping to the ground and pulling his pack over his head.

"What?" said Sakura.

"C-c-creepy ghost lady!" he said.

"Oh, come on." Sakura huffed, though a little spooked herself. "She's gone now. You can come out."

Deidara's scared face peeked out from under the pack. "B-but she... she dissolved! I don't like this, yeah!"

Sakura gave an involuntary laugh and bent down. "Oh, come on! Are you scared?"

"N...no!" said Deidara, blushing and sitting up as he flung the pack to the side. "I'm scared of nothing!"

"Yeah. Just keep telling yourself that." muttered Sakura. She curled up on the floor and closed her eyes.

"Hey-! I-!" Deidara said, but then he leaned closer to Sakura and saw her chest rising and falling slowly.

"Whatever." he grumbled, and tried to get into a comfortable position. He then realized that one of his hand-mouths was gnawing on his pack.

"Cut that out!" he said to it, pulling his hand back. It just dragged the bag with it.

A smile slowly spread across Sakura's face.

"Hey! So you were awake!" he said, turning his attention away from his hand.

"Never said I wasn't." she answered.

"You'll be the death of me, I swear." groaned Deidara, trying to pull the pack off with his feet. "A little... help... here?" he said hopefully.

"Help yourself." said Sakura, yawning and stretching out.

The hand gagged and spat the pack out.

"Yes, finally!" said Deidara. "I can sleep..." He collapsed on the cave floor and was asleep instantly.

Sakura opened her eyes.

_He really is cute when he's all frantic like that._

_ AAAAAAH! _thought Sakura, gripping her head. _S-stop thinking stuff like that! It'll make you crazy!  
>But it still was cute.<em>

Sakura slammed her head against the wall, trying to clear her head.

The thoughts went away, so she did it again. She didn't notice that Deidara had woken up and was staring at her.

_Why is she slamming her head against the wall? _he thought.

"Er... Sakura?" he said.

She turned to him. They looked at each other for a while.

Sakura let out a sigh.

"You saw that, didn't you." she said.

"Uh-huh." said Deidara, nodding. Then, he leaned against the wall.

Their eyes slid towards each other.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" said Sakura, blushing.

"May I ask you the same thing?" Deidara answered.

They turned away from each other, faces red, and slept.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No!" said Naruto, anger in his voice. "It... it can't be!"

Tsunade pushed the two pictures towards him. "Naruto, listen to me. Had Sakura been acting strange before the incident with Zetsu?"

"NO!" said Naruto. "Sakura would never... EVER join the Akatsuki!"

"Lady Tsunade." said Gaara, peeking over Naruto's shoulder. "Deidara isn't wearing his headband, robes, or ring in this picture. Isn't it a little strange-"

"Gaara." said Lady Tsunade. "Look at this. Why would Sakura be working with Deidara? He's still a missing-nin, evil. He was an assassin before he came to the Akatsuki, you know."

"She would never... do that to us..." Naruto whispered hoarsely.

Tsunade took the pictures and slid them into a folder.

"For now, though... it's official." she said, looking into Naruto's eyes.

"Sakura is now an official missing-nin."


	9. Lightning

**Author's Note: I MUST GIVE A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO A VERY SPECIAL PERSON. Thanks sooo much to the awesome incredible **Lyte the Warrior, **who has given me steam (which I was running out of) with his inspiring uplifting comment. THANK YOU, LYTE!**

**Disclaimer: I no own Naruto. Or sanity. I should probably get some of that...**

Chapter Nine

Sakura stood in front of Deidara, whapping him with his pack every five seconds.

"Wake up."

*Whap*

"Wake up."

*Whap*

"Wake u-"

"Alright, alright, I'm up!" said Deidara, rubbing his head."

*Whap*

"Hey, what was that one for?" complained Deidara.

"For taking so long to wake up." said Sakura, dropping the pack on the floor.

Sakura walked away to fix her hair. Deidara stared after her.

"You're a mean person!" he said.

"So are you." she answered, looking at her reflection in a small pool of water.

"Hey," said Deidara, peeking out of the cave. "I think there's going to be a giant storm soon."

"A giant storm?" said Sakura worriedly, walking out of the cave.

"Look at the clouds." said Deidara, pointing.

Sakura looked up.

It looked like water in a boiling pot, huge black clouds rolling across the sky.

A single drop of water landed on Sakura's upturned face.

"Uh-oh." she whispered.

Then, all hell broke loose. Or at least the sky did. A huge downpour of rain thudded to the ground in the forest. Sakura ran back inside, dripping wet.

"Sakura!" said Deidara.

Sakura reached up and felt her head.

"Darn." she said, deflating. "My hair's ruined."

Deidara blinked. "Y-your hai- no, this is more serious than _hair!_"

"Why?" said Sakura, still sporting a bored expression.

"Because," said Deidara quietly. His face turned serious. "It'll be easy for the Akatsuki to come for us in these conditions. We need to leave here."

"Why leave?" said Sakura, confused. "We could just hide out here-"

"There's a river nearby." said Deidara. "If it overflows, and with this rain it probably will, then..."

"Oh." said Sakura. "But... can you fly in this weather?"

"I can try." answere Diedara, standing up and drawing his knives.

He closed his eyes and lined the daggers up in front of his face.

Sakura watched as they started to glow blue, and a bird rose from the ground.

"Huh... so you don't need clay anymore." said Sakura."

Deidara opened his eyes and lowered the fading daggers. "Yeah, it's weird." he said, tucking them into his belt. "Some creature restored my sanity and gave me glowing knives... it makes no sense, doesn't it?"

Sakura nodded and lightly stepped onto the bird. Deidara got on in front of her.

"You might want to hold on..." he said, smiling. "This is going to be a wild ride, yeah."

"Er..." said Sakura nervously. "How wild?"

Deidara didn't answer, just grinned as the bird started flapping it's wings and rose into the air.

A gust of wind buffeted them and Sakura screamed as she fell back-

Deidara caught her and pulled her back on.

"I SAID," he shouted over the sound of the pouring rain. "THAT YOU MIGHT WANNA HOLD ON!"

Sakura sighed as she hesitantly wrapped her arms around the blonde in front of her's slender waist.

The bird zoomed forward, sprouting an extra pair of wings for speed. The rain blew into Deidara's face, so he drew a pair of goggles from the pack on his back and snapped them over his eyes.

Sakura squeezed her eyes shut as the rain pelted her and her face. Deidara took most of the water hitting them, but he was too thin.

"You should gain weight!" shouted Sakura over the rain.

"Whaaat?" said Deidara, leaning forward as he eased the bird on through the raging storm

"Never mind!" Sakura responded, her pants ripping as they rippled in the wind that blew past them. Her shirt ripped after that.

_Oh no! What if my clothes fall off?_ she thought, but banished the thought quickly so it could be replaced by more serious things.

Deidara could barely see as the bird rose higher over the treetops.

_Maybe this was a bad idea._ he thought nervously,

Lighting slashed through the air just yards away, and Sakura screamed.

Another shaft of lightning crashed down in front of them, and Deidara fought for control of the bird as it reeled backwards.

Deidara heard Sakura say something, but couldn't hear her. She seemed frantic.

"What?" he shouted back, turning his head backwards. He heard her scream as the bird weaved around a lightning bolt that flashed with the light of a thousand suns.

He heard her say what he though was 'Where's the wunder'

"WHAAAT?" he shouted.

"THERE'S... NO... THUNDER...!" she shouted, practically squeezing Deidara to death.

"Why would there be lightning this early in the storm?" he said.

And then...

Ping.

The connection was made in Deidara's mind.

"Oh no." he said, making the bird sprout a third pair of wings. "Oh no, no, no, no, no...!"

And then the sky lit up with the strongest lightning yet... this time illuminating a winged figure in the sky with spiky hair...

And Sakura saw it, saw it just before the light of the storm went out once more.

The rain died down for just a moment.

"Sa..." she whispered, incredulous. "Sas..."

Deidara gritted his teeth.

"Sasuke." he muttered.

He unwound Sakura's crushing arms from his torso and stood, drawing his knives. They started to glow.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" he shouted into the rain. "Whatever it is you want, just tell me now!"

His old hatred for Sasuke burned within him.

_No._ he thought suddenly. _This is wrong. I don't hate Sasuke. I... I hated Sasuke when I was insane._

His mind cleared.

The bird swerved as lightning struck by their side.

Suddenly, something hit the back of his head. Deidara whirled and saw Sakura's eyes widening in fear as a snake slowly wound itself around her...

Deidara yelled and Sakura cried out as he slashed the snake. It rolled off hte bird, wriggling gruesomely.

Sakura started crying and wrapped her arms around Deidara's legs.

"I was never prepared for something like this!" she sobbed, shaking. "I can't fly! And... and he wants me! I don't know what to _do_!" she said. "I just want to go home..."

The tears on her cheeks mixed with the rain streaming down her cheeks, and dripped onto her face.

Deidara looked down at her. She looked small and vunerable, that is to say _very_ un-Sakura-like.

_Well, this must be a traumatizing experience._ he thought. _After all, she can't fly..._

His eyes softened and he knelt down.

"Whatever happens." he whispered in her ear. "I will protect you to the best of my abilities."

Sakura nodded many times, her eyes wide.

Deidara straightened up and his hands tightened around his daggers. They glowed bright blue.

"Open... door... of protection!" he shouted, and blue light lit up the sky as it spun itself around him.

He saw a dark shape above him and spread his arms. Shards of light arced up and rained down upon the figure, which started plummeting down from the sky...

And then it crumbled to dust.

_A clone!_ thought Deidara, squinting through the tempest. _So where...?_

Deidara heard Sakura's strangled scream and looked down, alarmed.

It was him, gliding just below the bird, with huge wings that looked like giant, clawed hands.

A snake reached up and seized Sakura's leg. Deidara cut it in half, and felt Sakura's arms reach a crushing level around his leg.

Ignoring the pain, he stared down, searching the air for his enemy. He shouldn't have bothered. Sasuke rose up beside the earthen bird, his eyes flashing.

"Give me the girl." said Sasuke, his voice somehow louder than the storm. "And I will spare you."

"N-no!" said Sakura, looking pleadingly up at Deidara. "Don't-"

"No." said Deidara firmly. "If you want Sakura, you'll have to go through me first."

Tentacles of blue energy wove around him, swaying in the wind. The fire in his eyes flashed brighter than any lightning the sky could produce.

"Very well." he heard Sasuke say, and then he whipped out a long sword and stabbed Deidara through with it.

"k-kek-!" said Deidara as blood trickled down his chin. He fell to his knees as Sasuke pulled the sword and it disappeared.

"DEIDARA!" shouted Sakura, clutching his waist.

"S-Sakura..." he said, breathing heavily.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the back of her shirt and pulled her off the bleeding blonde boy.

"HELP ME! HELP ME, PLEASE!" she shouted, her voice breaking, as many snakes wound around her, pulling her back.

"Sakuraaaaaaaaaaaa!" shouted Deidara, a long drawn out scream that helped jerk him back into conciousness.

He stood up.

"Interesting." mused Sasuke, as Deidara shook with rage. "You haven't died or given up yet. You must really want her..."

A snake went around Sakura's mouth slowly, muffling her screams. Her eyes widened with pure terror.

_What does he want to do to me? _thought Sakura desperately. _What does he want?_

Deidara shouted and leapt into the air. Sasuke whipped out a katana and sparks flew as dagger and sword clashed in mid air.

Deidara's back arced as a pair of huge, white wings sprouted from his back.

Sasuke summoned a small hawk and dropped Sakura onto it. The snakes almost completely covered her now, leaving only her scared jade eyes.

She breathed in and out.

_Be strong._ she thought.

And then, she punched through the snakes and stood, flinging them off her and panting.

"Sakura, no!" shouted Deidara, holding out his hand as she leapt towards Sasuke, pulling her fist back-

Sasuke caught her fist and flung her back onto the bird. She landed on her back, and immediately snakes sprouted from it, winding around her and tying her to the bird.

Deidara flung more blue spikes at him, but he easily deflected them with his sword. He jumped lightly onto his hawk.

"Goodbye." he said, and it started to fly away.

Deidara suddenly flapped his wings and jumped onto the hawk, lifting himself over the edge. He punched a very surprised Sasuke, who's head snapped to the side and he stumbled back.

His concentration on the snakes loosened, and Sakura reached out with a small, trembling hand.

Deidara grabbed it, and jumped back, off the hawk, and through the storm, landing cat-like on his bird.

"Goodbye." he said, a shield of blue energy wrapped around the bird. Sasuke flew his hawk over and tried to stab down with his sword, but all he got was an electric shock that jolted through him. He looked down at the glowing cocoon.

Sakura opened her eyes.

There was no storm, only a small space lit up with blue light. She saw Deidara's worried face above her, and felt his arms around her.

"Deidara..." she said, trying to sit up. The adrenaline pumped through her body, but she felt strangely at peace...

"Sakura... snakes... poison..." she heard him say, as if through a haze.

But the words broke through her sleepiness, and she channeled all her chakra towards to small reddening bite marks...

And nothing happened.

"Wh-wha...?" she muttered sleepily.

"Your chakra... it isn't working?" asked Deidara.

Sakura weakly shook her head. "I don't think... so..."

Then, she saw his gaping chest wound. "You're... you're hurt..." she whispered. "Let me heal you..."

She reached out her hand and planted it on Deidara's chest. He winced.

"Sakura, I don't think that you can-"

"Shhh..." she said. "Heal..."

Deidara stared at Sakura in wonder as a her hands started to glow pink. And out of the pinkness, he saw a shape.

It was a pair of daggers, glowing pink with a round, pink marble embedded in the hilt.

The hole on Deidara's chest closed as new muscle grew over the hole, and a fresh layer of skin slowly creeped over the repaired muscle, sealing the hole.

And then Sakura brought the knives to her own chest, a green liquid seeped out of her skin as the glowing daggers drew it in.

A pair of wings, strong and muscled but covered with soft, plush pink feathers, sprouted from her back and wrapped themselves around the exhausted kunoichi. She nestled into them and the weariness of the fighting finally sank into her mind, and she fell asleep.

Deidara knelt beside her for a while, gazing tiredly at her sleeping face.

"So _that's_ why her chakra didn't work." he said hoarsely, and he opened up the cocoon.

The storm was over, and the sun shone over them. Sasuke was gone, and the bird descended slowly through the air and landed lightly on the ground.

Too exhausted to move, Deidara curled around Sakura's new wings and slept.


	10. Race

**Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for all your amazing, inspiring reviews! I WUV THEM! THANK YOOOOOOUZ**

**The story is moving along nicely. I borrowed a character from one of my non-fanfiction stories and placed it here. Heh. No matter how much I like bashing Sasuke, the addition of this character makes me almost feel sorry for him.**

**ALMOST.**

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR CHARACTERS IN NARUTO CUZ THEY BELONG TO THE PERSON THAT THEY BELONG TO.**

Chapter Ten

A man in a black coat sat on the ground, writing on a scroll. The swirl printed on his back glinted in the sunlight.

He was so focused on his scroll-writing that he didn't hear the light patter behind him that signified the arrival of a visitor.

"You wanted to see me?" the man heard, and rolled up his scroll as he turned around.

There, sitting on a branch, was a teenager with a spiky hairdo and loose clothing, wearing a permanent scowl on his face.

"Ah, Sasuke." said the man. "I've been expecting you."

"I got your message." said Sasuke, tossing a scroll at him. It rolled open at the surprised man's feet. "What do you want?"

"My name is Meio. It has come to the Maika's attention." said Meio, picking up the scroll and tucking it into his pocket. "That you want the Bir- I mean, this girl, Sakura."

Sasuke nodded. "She has great power."

"But you haven't gotten her yet." said Meio leaning on a tree. "And why is that?"

Sasuke's face hardened.

"It's because of the Spi- er, Deidara, isn't it?" said Meio.

Sasuke looked him in the eye. "What do you want?"

"Right to the point, huh." said Meio, smiling. "Well, the Maika would like to propose an offer. We do not want Sakura, only Deidara... but they are together. And, we have heard about your great powers. Yes, we have heard a great many things about the sheer-"

"Get to the point." said Sasuke.

Meio blinked, surprised. Then, he chuckled. "Okay." he said. "Since you could not capture the girl you want, then we propose that you help us catch Deidara."

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, but Meio continued.

"In return, we will lend you one of our strongest hunters to help you capture them both. What do you think?"

Sasuke pondered the offer silently. He knew that he probably couldn't capture them without help...

"Fine." said Sasuke. "When can I meet this... man?"

Meio didn't answer, only turned and whistled.

Sasuke waited, shifting impatiently.

Suddenly, someone swung forward on a vine and off, landing lightly on the ground.

"Showoff." muttered Meio.

The person on the floor rose.

It was...

"It's me!" said the hunter, spinning around. His black cloak with a gold swirl on the back spun around him, revealing a pink shirt and pants over a slightly chubby body.

Sasuke's mouth dropped open.

"What the fu-"

"No, no, no, he just... acts strange! He's our best hunter, really!" said Meio nervously.

"Hey, new partner! Hi!" said the hunter, waving. He leapt towards Sasuke, who crawled back, traumatized.

"D-don't touch me!" said Sasuke.

"Yay, we're going to have so much fun together!" said the hunter, clasping his hands, eyes sparkling. Then, he turned to look at Sasuke.

"My name is Milton Wernie! What's yours?"

"Sasuke."

"Eeee, that's such a WONderful name!" said Milton, twirling again and falling over this time.

"He better be a good hunter." Sasuke hissed at Meio, his eyes flashing.

"Oh, and he is!" stammered Meio. He looked at his wrist. "Well, look at the time, bye!" And so Meio left.

"You're not wearing a watch." said Sasuke.

"Hey! Heeey, Sasuke!" said Milton.

"What?" growled Sasuke.

"I like your hair." said Milton.

Sasuke's left eye twitched.

"Let's get this over with." he said, standing up and looking back at his partner.

"Oooh, I know how to find them!" said Milton.

"So do it." said Sasuke.

"'Kay!" said Milton, setting up some of his materials.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara and Sakura jolted open to find their faces mere centimeters apart.

"AAAAH!" they both shouted, sitting up and reeling back.

They both looked away and blushed, before looking at each other again.

"So, um..." said Sakura, turning red.

"Where are we?" said Deidara, looking up at the leafy canopy above them. Sakura followed his gaze.

The sunlight trickled through the green leaves that rustled passively in the wind, making the light dance on the ground.

They both stood up, but Sakura fell down again. She looked to the side, and saw wings.

"Wings?" she said.

"Oh yeah." said Deidara. "How will you hide-"

"Oh, I know!" said Sakura. "I can just wrap them around myself under my shirt."

She turned to look at Deidara with some sort of a death stare.

"What?" he said.

"Look away." she hissed.

Deidara jerked. "Oh, um, yeah!" he said, whirling around quickly.

Sakura quickly lifted her shirt up, letting her wings wrap around herself. They fit nicely, and flattened as she pulled her shirt back on.

"Done." she said, and Deidara turned around again.

"Okay, so that's solved." said Deidara, looking around. "But where do we go now?"

Sakura sat down heavily.

"I... I don't know." she said. "Where can we go where no one will be after us?"

"Well, there's Konoha, but..." said Sakura.

"We're both missing-nin." said Deidara.

"Yeah." said Sakura softly.

Deidara stood. "Well, he have to find some sort of shelter. Let's look for a cave, or something."

"Sure." said Sakura, standing up. "Let's go."

Deidara grinned. "Wanna fly there?"

Sakura smiled back, her wings ripping to holes in the back of her shirt. "Wanna race?"

"Oh, you're on." said Deidara. "First one to find a cave wins and sends up a flare."

"Get ready to lose!" said Sakura, rising into the air.

Deidara flicked his dagger up, and a bird rose out of the ground. He hopped on.

They rose into the air, determined smiles on their faces.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto slapped a stack of papers onto Tsunade's desk.

"What's this?" she said, taking the top one off and scanning it.

Gaara, Rock Lee, Tenten, and Neji stood behind him.

"I looked at the laws of Konoha." said Naruto. "There is a rule that a group of people can go after someone who has become a missing-nin, and postpone the ANBU hunter-nin from going after them for thirty days."

Tsunade blinked, surprised. "I... I haven't heard of this law in ages."

She looked Naruto in the eye.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" she said. "It's extremely dangerous, and-"

"It's Sakura." said Rock Lee. "She's helped us, and now we should help her!"

"Yeah!" said Tenten. "Sakura's our friend!"

"Lady Tsunade." said Gaara. "We must go after her. You, yourself must feel inside that Sakura has not really turned on Konoha. Am I right?"

Tsunade looked down, her eyes softening. "Yes." she said quietly.

"Well, we'll prove that whatever those pictures were, they meant nothing!" said Naruto. Everyone behind him cheered.

"Okay." said Tsunade, quickly scribbling in some writing onto a form and stamping it.

"You have thirty days." she said.

A chorus of 'Thank you, Lady Tsunade!'s was heard throughout the room as they all walked out.

A single tear rolled down Tsunade's face, now that she was alone.

"Please... find her." she whispered.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara was sulking.

"I told you to prepare to lose." said Sakura, crossing her legs and grinning. "And, you didn't!"

"You beat me." mourned Deidara. "How?"

"Because I'm awesome." said Sakura. "That's why!"

Deidara suddenly looked up. "Hey, it's getting dark. I'll get stuff for a fire."

"And food." said Sakura. "We haven't eaten in ages."

He nodded and ducked out of the cave, walking off.

Sakura listened to his fading footsteps, and felt cold. She rubbed her hands on her arms.

The crickets chirped outside as the sun faded.

_Naruto._ she thought. _I wonder... I wonder if he still believes in me?_

A light wind picked up, making strands of her pink hair swirl around her.

She waited for a while, losing track of the time as she gazed at the place where she'd last seen Deidara.

After some time, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching, and tensed.

"It's me." she heard, and relaxed as Deidara walked in, arms piled high with firewood and two plucked, skinned chickens.

"Where did you get the chickens?" said Sakura suspiciously.

"You don't have to know!" Deidara answered, dropping the firewood noisily in the center of a cave and setting up a rickety cooking instrument over it. He poked a stick through the two chickens, lit a fire, and put the chickens over it.

"Yes I do. There are no wild chickens around here." said Sakura.

"Fine." huffed Deidara. "I sort of... kind of... stole them from some farmer."

"That's not right." said Sakura.

"What?" said Deidara. "We probably need them more than _they _do!"

_He's right._ thought Sakura.

There was a brief, awkward silence.

"Deidara." said Sakura. "I have a question."

It seemed to get darker, as the two sat at opposite ends of the fire. A cold wind whistled through the cave.

"What?" said Deidara. The light from the fire danced on both their faces.

"Why did you protect me?" said Sakura, her expression unreadable as she gazed up and the blonde's face. "You could have just... let Sasuke take me. Why didn't you?"

Deidara looked back at her.

"I... didn't want him to hurt you." he said quietly.

"Why do you care?" said Sakura.

Deidara was silent at that comment.

"Why did you heal me?" he asked.

"What?" said Sakura.

"Why did you heal me, when you could have just left me to die?" said Deidara.

Sakura didn't answer.

"I... I don't know." she said.

"And neither do I." said Deidara, reaching for the chickens and turning them over.

Sakura's mouth watered with the smell of cooked chicken.

"Wow." she said. "That smells... nice."

"Yeah." said Deidara. "After days of eating creepy random fruits that we find, this'll be nice!"

Sakura laughed quietly.

"So... what do we do after this?" she said, reaching for the stick that held the chickens and spinning it.

"I don't know... hide?" said Deidara.

"We can't run forever." said Sakura, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Or can we?" said Deidara.

Sakura stared at him.

"You're right." admitted Deidara. "We might have to find a village or something."

"What about Kono-"

"Sakura," said Deidara. "You know what's waiting for us in Konoha? Death. That's the sentence for all dangerous missing-nin."

Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes.

"I'm... I'm sorry. I was too harsh." said Deidara. "But it's true. We can't go back, not now."

"I get it." said Sakura.

They sat in silence for a while.

Deidara was the first to break the silence.

"Hey... Sakura?"

"Hm?" she said.

Deidara blushed a little, embarrassed by his question.

"How was it... life in Konoha?"

Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"Well... it's a very nice feeling." she said. "Everyone feels real... together. It's like one giant community."

Deidara stared at her, drawing in every word.

"And... Naruto was always cracking the most bizarre, annoying pranks." she said, the words coming faster now. "Like this one time, he painted the Hokage monument. Boy, was everyone mad when that happened."

"Wow." said Deidara. "Daring."

"Yeah, tell me about it." muttered Sakura. "He made up this 'sexy jutsu' thing where he turns into a girl..."

Deidara was confused. "But isn't that just-"

"A naked girl." muttered Sakura.

"Oooh. Okay." said Deidara.

"Yeah." said Sakura. "After we all went away to train for a few years and came back, I thought he'd be more mature. But no, he still was the same old Naruto."

Deidara reached for the chickens and turned them over, listening.

"Oh, and I have this friend, Ino." said Sakura, smiling as she remembered. "We used to be friends, then turned enemies, then turned friends again." she said. "Ino is... the brightest, best friend that... that anyone could... could..." her voice cracked.

"Sorry." said Deidara. "I just... I was just curious. I don't really remember living in Iwakagure."

"No, it's okay." said Sakura, waving her hand. "It's fine. I don't want to forget."

Deidara stuck a stick in the chicken and pulled it out.

"Hey, I think it's ready!" he said, laying a blanket from his pack on the ground. He slid the chickens off, and they landed heavily on the fabric.

"Here." he said, ripping a leg off and handing it to Sakura. "Don't eat too fast, there's more if you want more."

Sakura took the meat. "Thanks!" she said, biting into it. It was juicy and delicious.

Deidara took a bite of a leg. "Wow, this is good!" he said.

"My compliments to the farmer." said Sakura.

"Hey!" said Deidara. "What about the chef, yeah?"

"The chef is too annoying to receive compliments." said Sakura, quickly finishing the chicken.

They both laughed, and reached for more chicken at the same time. Their hands touched, and they pulled away.

"You first." said Deidara.

"No, you." responded Sakura.

They both pulled more off at the same time, and the cooking instrument collapsed into the fire, making the flames flare up. Sakura jumped up.

"It's okay." said Deidara. "Nothing'll happen."

Sakura sat back down, calmed by Deidara's words.

The two talked together in the cave.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"We're leaving tomorrow!" said Naruto, Gaara standing by his side. "Everyone, meet at the gates of Konoha at seven!"

Everyone cheered.

"Hey, can I join?" said a voice. They all turned.

It was Ino, standing by shyly.

"Sure!" said Naruto. "We need all the strength we can get!"

"Everyone, go to sleep. Rest. You'll need your strength tomorrow." said Gaara. Everyone walked off, talking amongst themselves.

"Don't worry Sakura. I'm coming." said Ino, as she headed off to her house.

Naruto turned to Gaara. "Are you sure you wanna help? This might take a while."

"It's okay." said Gaara. "My village lives in peaceful times. This is a better way to help the relationship between the villages than trading. Plus, Sakura is our comrade and friend. We need her.

Naruto nodded, and looked out into the distance, as if he could see Sakura somewhere, deep in the woods.


	11. Consciousness

**Author's Note: Well, thanks for all the comments! Enjoy this chapter!  
>Wow, this one really took longer than I thought... especially when typing the word "consciousness" OVER and OVER and OVER again in... <em>that<em> part. You'll know which one. It's my weak spot. I can't type that word fast! Enjoy, please!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the characters so STOP EATING MY COOKIES!**

**Wait... what?**

Chapter Eleven

Naruto and his group gathered next to the gates of Konoha.

"In this picture, there is a certain plant that can only be found..." he pointed. "Here."

"So that's where we're going?" said Tenten.

"Well, we'll start there." said Gaara, taking the map from Naruto and inspecting it. Then, he rolled it up and gave it back to the excited teenager.

"Alright!" said Naruto. "We can do this!"

The group of people cheered.

"Let's go!" said Naruto, jumping ahead, and the rest of the group leaped after him, swiftly through the trees.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Sasuke! Saaasuke!"

*Poke*

Sasuke rolled over to find Milton Wernie's face inches from his.

"AAAH!" he shouted, jumping back.

"Master Sasuke is awake!" said Milton joyfully.

"Master Sasuke is annoyed." responded Sasuke, rubbing his eyes. "Whaddya want?"

"We should start the hunt now!" said Milton, his eyes gleaming.

"Fine." grumbled Sasuke, pulling his pack over his shoulder. "Let's start walking."

Milton opened his mouth to talk, but Sasuke interrupted him. "And don't talk. I have a headache."

"Yes, Master-!"

Sasuke whirled around, aiming his death stare right at Milton, who cowered and took a step back.

Sasuke turned his attention back to walking, letting his inner fight resume.

_Sasuke, why are you doing this? What's so great about having power anyway? _pleaded his consciousness.

_ I want to kill my brother. Surpass him._ Sasuke thought.

_But... why the girl? Didn't you see how much she and the blonde one love each other? _his concussions responded. _What heartless jerk would tear them apart?_

_ I don't care about love. _thought Sasuke, his eyes hardening. _Plus, the blonde dude tried to kill me._

_ No, he didn't. _said his consciousness disapprovingly. _You felt it yourself. There was something different about him. Would the Deidara you knew protect Sakura? Would Sakura you know cling to the Deidara you crossed paths yet before?_

_ Okay, that doesn't matter. Power matters. It's the only way to surpass my brother. _thought Sasuke-

_Who CARES about your frikin' brother? _shouted his consciousness, making Sasuke practically jump out of his skin.

_I care about my "frikin" brother. I have to kill him. It's for my honor. _thought Sasuke, getting annoyed. And a headache.

_Honor, honor, HONOR! _screeched his consciousness, making Sasuke cringe. _That's ALL you care about! Well, honor, SHMONOR!_

_ Shut up. _thought Sasuke.

_There are SO many things more important than honor! There's love, and caring, and compassion! _his consciousness shouted. _What has honor ever done for you?_

_ Shut up. Now._ thought Sasuke, rubbing his head. He could really feel that headache coming on now. But the ache was more than that.

_All you do is fight for honor, when you don't need it! You don't need honor! Never did, never will! But you need love! And compassion! Where are they, Sasuke? All the abandoned feelings? HONOR IS FAKE! IMAGINARY! LEAVE WHAT YOU HAVE AGAINST YOUR BROTHER BEHIND!_

Sasuke dropped to his knees, clutching his head.

"Master Sasuke!" said Milton.

_SHUT...UP! _he thought fiercely.

_YOU'RE A JERK! _said Sasuke's consciousness, it's screeching reaching its peak. _YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING! No matter how much power you gain, you will never, NEVER amount to anything, Sasuke Uchia! If you don't let go of your mad ambition, a bloodthirsty revenge that claws at you from the inside you will crumble and persish. LET GO OF IT! STOP THE MADNESS! STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!  
><em>"SHUT UUUUUUUUUUUP!" howled Sasuke, and punched a tree. All the leaves fell off and Sasuke looked down at his fist, clenching his teeth.

It was shaking.

"But... but Master, I didn't speak!" said Milton, taking a few steps back.

Sasuke turned to look at him, a tired look in his eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you." he muttered, and started walking again.

_Man, I'm... I'm losing it._ thought Sasuke.

The whole "voice inside his head" thing had been going on for some time now.

And every time, it ended up with the same words.

_"Stop... stop... stop..."_

_ I'm going mad._ thought Sasuke. _Or maybe... I've gone mad already. The only thing left to do is to keep going._

So that's what he did.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ugh..." muttered Deidara, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He blinked and looked outside.

"Hey, Sakura." he said, stretching and yawning. "It's morning."

Sakura sat up, her hair frizzy and sticking out in every direction humanly possible.

Deidara's eyes drifted up to her head.

"What're you lookin' at?" grumbled Sakura, rubbing one of her eyes.

"Ehehe... nothing!" said Deidara, holding up his hands. He stood up and walked outside to check the weather.

When he ducked back into the cave, he saw Sakura had fixed her hair.

"So... where do we go now?" she said.

"Well, just so they can't track us, I think the best thing to do is find another cave. We've gotta keep moving."

"Fine by me." said Sakura, standing up. "Wanna fly?"

"Let's walk for now," said Deidara, slinging his pack over his shoulder. "We don't want to attract any unwanted attention... and plus, we need to save our energy. There's no knowing who we'll meet out there."

Sakura nodded, picked up her daggers, and slid them into her belt. They flashed pink for a second before fading.

They walked out, feet crunching the leaves underfoot.

"Hey, Deidara," said Sakura.

"Yeah?" he said, turning to her.

"Do you think... that they'll ever stop going after us? The Akatsuki?"

Deidara looked at Sakura's hopeful eyes and sighed.

"Sakura... I don't think so. Not yet." he said.

Sakura looked down.

"Hey, I have an idea. Let's split up, search in different directions. We can cover more ground that way."

"Okay." said Sakura. "Send up a flare with a dagger if we run into trouble or a cave?"

"Sure!" said Deidara. He started off in a different direction.

"See you soon?" called Sakura, watching his ponytail sway behind him as he walked away.

"Yeah!" Deidara called back, turning to face her. The sunlight glinted off his features, but his smile out-shined the light.

He turned back and disappeared into the trees.

Sakura walked, looking in all directions. "If I was a cave, where would I be?" she muttered.

Suddenly, she felt her hair stand up.

_Darn, it's getting frizzy again._ she thought, annoyed, as she smoothed it down. _Like there's static electricity around here somewhere-_

Sakura stopped, her eyes widening.

She whipped out one of her daggers and pointed it towards the sky, her eyes glowing pink as she charged the pink marble in it's center-

"Oh no, you don't!" said a voice, and an arrow whizzed past her hand, hitting the dagger. It spun out of her grasp.

"Hello, m'dear." said a voice, and she saw a very pudgy man standing on a tree branch.

Standing with his arms crossed behind him stood...

Sasuke.

Sakura reached for her other dagger, but as she lifted it another arrow went by. This time, it caught her sleeve and pinned her to a tree.

"Nothing personal, I assure you." said the man, grinning. He dressed oddly in pink with a black cape.

"Let's finish this." said Sasuke.

Sakura ripped free of the arrow restraining her. A sneer curled around her lips.

"I'm not that weak, idiots." she said. "We're on the ground."

Her hand curled into a fist.

"This is my territory." she said, and then she let loose a yell and puched the ground.

The ground rumbled and split, and the tree that Sasuke and the stranger were on tipped over. They both jumped off.

As soon as they landed, Sakura punched the ground again, and Sasuke was thrown off his feet. The man in pink, however, landed cat-like next to Sakura.

"Got you." he said, and as she turned he grabbed for her.

Sakura lashed up a kick, right into his chin.

"My chin!" he cried.

Sasuke ran forward, gathering a ball of electricity in his hand. He swung it at her, but she dodged and rolled to the side.

She kicked Sasuke's legs, but he didn't stumble, instead grabbing Sakura's hands and flipping her over onto her stomach.

_Wow, he's strong! _thought Sakura. She started to get up, but-

She felt a foot plant itself onto her back.

"You'll stay right there!" said the man. "Or my name isn't Milton Wernie!"

"That's a STUPID NAME!" shouted Sakura, flipping onto her hands and kicking him in the face. He stumbled back.

But suddenly, a shock hit her. Literally. Bolts of electricity coursed through her body, and she fell, weakened. When she tried to get up, she was stepped on and thudded into the dusty ground again.

"Don't move." she heard Sasuke say. "Or I will shock you again. This little fight is over."

But suddenly, a force smacked into the side of his face, and he stumbled to the side.

Sakura looked just in time to see Deidara soaring above her, foot raise in a kick.

His hair flowed behind him, sparkling in the sunlight... as if in slow motion...

And then reality hit her and Sakura stood up to fight.

But then...

A huge, heavy force smacked into her and Deidara, and they both crashed heavily onto the ground.

"C-can't... move..." Deidara gasped.

Sakura pushed with all her strength against the air, but even she couldn't get up. The ground around her sank.

"Didn't you know what my power is?" said Milton. "I can control the gravity. Makes me an effective hunter... because if prey can't move, then they're easy to catch, aren't they?"

He walked over to Deidara, who looked up at him with rage in his eyes and struggled to get up.

Milton lashed his hands behind him and tied his legs together. Then walked over to Sakura and did the same to her.

He then drew a small tube out of his pocket and blew two needles at both of them.

Deidara looked into Sakura's eyes. They were directly opposite of each other.

"Deidara... I'm scared..." she whispered as her world started to turn

"Don't worry... I'll see you again... someday... I promised I'd... p-protect you...

And then their eyes closed.

"This one's coming with me." said Milton, turning the gravity back to normal and pointing at Deidara. "The ties on the hands suck their chakra and any other force around them in. Don't remove them, or they can just summon their spirit daggers and escape when they wake up."

He lifted Deidara and slung him over his shoulder, walking off. Deidara shouted some protest through the gag, but it was muffled.

"G'bye, Master Sasuke!" he called, waving.

Sasuke didn't answer. His eyes flickered over to Sakura, lying there defeated.

_How am I supposed to carry her?_ he thought.

He summoned a clone of himself, who swung the small Kunoichi over it's shoulder and walked after Sasuke.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Deidara woke up, he found himself in a small cell.

His first thought was of Sakura, and he deflated.

Sakura.

_I... I failed to protect her. I failed. _he thought.

He looked around the small, dark cell. Water dripped from the ceiling somewhere, and he drew his knees up to his chest, resting his head on them.

The cold soaked deep into him, and he shivered.

Deidara heard a clank, and looked above him. His arms were chained to the wall, loose enough for movement... but he probably couldn't get more than a few feet away from the wall.

There was no running from it, no escaping. Deidara couldn't see the sky anymore.

He started to breathe faster, his heart beating within his chest.

Alone.

He knew this feeling.

Panic.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura woke up in a big room, made of stone blocks. She tried to move, and couldn't.

She looked to the side, and saw that her arms and legs were strapped onto a huge board, sort of in the form of a cross.

She looked up. The board was dangling by two chains from the ceiling.

True, pure fear pierced her.

After that, she thought of Deidara.

_I'll probably never see him again._

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she shook silently.

She knew this feeling.

Terror.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The small group of young ninjas searched the area were they thought Sakura had last been frantically.

They searched for clues, anything that would tell them what happened to her.

Gaara stood on a tree in the center of the operation, seeing that everyone was spread out to cover as much ground as possible.

Naruto leapt onto the tree branch next to him. "Gaara!" he said. "Has anyone found anything?"

"No, not yet." said Gaara. "But be patient. I bet that-"

"Naruto!" said someone.

Suddenly, there were two voices shouting his name.

"Naruto! Naruto!"

And then it was a chorus of voices.

Naruto and Gaara jumped quickly from tree to tree, landing next to the shouting ninjas.

They were all gathered around a small lake.

"What? What's going on?" said Naruto, looking over. "Find something?"

"Look, Rock Lee's coming up with something we saw right now!  
>"And just what did he see?" said Gaara, looking over Naruto's shoulder.<p>

Rock Lee burst out of the water, gasping. His hair was sopping wet, and shinier than usual.

His hand rose out of the water as he flung something out onto dry ground.

Everyone crowded around it, and Naruto kneeled to pick it up.

It was wet, torn, faded, and almost unrecognizable, but the unmistakable red clouds were still clear on the black material.

"It's an Akatsuki cloak!" shouted Rock Lee.

Everyone was silent.

"What could this _mean_?" said Naruto, starting to shake. "Did an Akatsuki member... kill...

"No." said Gaara, coming forward. "Look."

He took the cloak. "This cloak was probably ripped intentionally. See, it's in strips. I doubt someone would want to cut an Akatsuki into strips, much less get the chance to."

He held the cloak against himself and looked down.

"Furthermore." he added. "This is the cloak of a very short Akatsuki member. Which of the Akatsuki members are short?"

"Itachi!" someone called.

"Deidara!" said someone else.

"Definitely not Kakuzu!" said someone shouted. "The guy's HUGE!"

"So... this is probably Itachi or Deidara's cloak." said Tenten. "But... how can we be sure?

Neji looked at the lake.

"Hey, Rock Lee?" he said.

"Yeah?" Rock Lee responded, still floating in the middle of the small lake.

"There's more stuff down there." said Neji. "Something big and something small. Can you see them? It's a little hazy through the water."

Rock Lee glanced down into the lake's murky depths. "I can check!" he said, and dove down.

Everyone above waited with bated breath... until Rock Lee burst to the surface, his hand clutched over something.

"Found stuff!" he said, and swam over to the edge of the lake, dropping the items on dry ground. Tenten grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the lake.

Gaara bent down and picked up the two items.

"It's a ring and a headband." he said. "Both... definitely Deidara's."

Everone stared at the crossed out Iwakagure headband and the jade ring.

"And... Deidara was in that picture without any of these. So he disposed of them before the picture was taken. But maybe not before he met Sakura." said Rock Lee, wringing out his clothes.

"Guys... why do you think Deidara and Sakura were together? And why would someone take a picture? Our spies found the pictures in the middle of the forest, like someone left them there for us." said Ino, holding up a finger.

"For the exact reason that you'd think." said Neji. "To soil their reputation."

"And they'd do that..." said Tenten.

"So Sakura couldn't go back to Konoha!" said Naruto.

"Maybe Deidara made someone take the picture?" said Ino.

"No, that makes no sense." said Rock Lee. "I mean, why wouldn't he be wearing Akatsuki clothes? To convince us that he's good and fighting with Sakura?"

Gaara pulled the picture out of his pocket.

"And... Sakura didn't die! She was really wounded, wasn't she?" added Rock Lee.

"Yeah." Whispered Naruto, looking at the discarded cloack. "She was."

"She has bandages in this picture." said Gaara. "They're on a bird."

They all stared at the picture until Naruto broke the silence.

"Everyone, split up again! Good job, everyone! Now, let's keep looking before the trail goes cold! We know they were here!"

They all went in different directions, except for Gaara and Naruto.

"Naruto." said Gaara.

"Yeah?" Naruto said, turning to him.

"Given these recent developments," said Gaara, "We might meet Deidara."

Naruto's face hardened. "Yeah, I know."

Gaara put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't let your anger control you. You control your anger. Keep an open mind to all the possibilities that may be the explanation for this."

"Yeah, that's what I've been doing!" said Naruto, smiling.

"Including the possibility that for some bizarre reason, Deidara has left the Akatsuki, healed Sakura, and helped her fight. Not necessarily in that order."

Naruto gritted his teeth.

"No, there's no _way_!" he said. "Deidara's evil. He killed you once. The Akatsuki, they're all evil. They-"

"Keep an open mind, Naruto." said Gaara starting to walk away.

He stopped and turned back for a moment.

"It's what made you go after Sakura. Keeping an open mind."

Then he walked away, leaving Naruto to his own thoughts.


	12. Gone

**Author's Note: Well, a LOT happens in this chapter! Almost too much for the number of words in here, but... it works!  
>For some reason, today my steam levels were low. I was tired today, so... it's no wonder! They'll be fine tomorrow, though. I hope!<strong>

**THANK YOOOOOOOUZ so much for all the reviews! You guys rule! AWESOMENESS**

**So, here you go! I don't own Naruto... enjoy!**

Chapter Twelve

Deidara woke up from his troubled sleep in his small cell to the sound of footsteps in the hallway outside.

He perked up, listening. The footsteps were definitely coming his way.

And then he heard the jangle of keys, and the doorknob rattled.

The door creaked open.

A man dressed in black entered the cell and closed the door behind him.

"Spider." said the man. "After centuries of searching, we have finally found you."

"What?" said Deidara, looking up. "I... I really have no idea what you're talking about. "You're crazy! All of you are-"

"This is of no importance, however." the man interrupted. "We would like... to propose an offer."

"We... _we_ as in who?" asked Deidara.

"The Maika." said the man, expressionless.

Deidara remembered the glowing creature saying something about the Maika.

He paused. "I'm listening."

"We want you," said the man, "to remove the regulator on the side of your head that maintains your current state of mind."

"WHAT?" Deidara growled. "Never! I'll never go back to that! I'd rather kill myself than risk the lives of everyone... every-!"

The man held up a hand and Deidara stopped talking.

"In exchange for the girl's freedom."

Deidara's eyes narrowed.

"What have you done to her?" he hissed.

The man said nothing.

"Answer me!" shouted Deidara, straining against the chains.

The only sound audible was the dripping of a leaking ceiling somewhere onto the cold stone floor.

"We will let her go if you remove your regulator."

Deidara sagged, his head down.

He remembered through the haze that had clouded his vision all his days in the Akatsuki. The bombs flying, cold merciless killing...

And then he remembered coming back to sanity, and being with Sakura.

The way at first he had always felt her glaring at him from her bed in the cave... her small yet powerful fists, smacking into his face every time she felt like punching him...

Her smile, racing to find a cave. Glowing and spreading across her face... the way the wind blew through her glossy pink hair...

And the only thing more powerful than her smile.

Her teary eyes, staring up from an upturned terrified face, pleading with him to keep her safe...

"Ugh..." groaned Deidara, closing his eyes. He knew what he would say, as much as he didn't want to.

"Fine." said Deidara. "But can I see her... one more time-?"

"No." said the man. "You must do it now. You are the only one who can remove the regulator, it is designed that way."

Deidara's eyes filled with salty tears.

_No,_ he thought. _I won't show any of my sorrow to this man._

He stood, reaching for his regulator.

Deidara took hold of it with a trembling hand, and with one quick pull jerked it away from his face.

Kisame and Itachi walked in through the door just as a shudder tore through Deidara.

He slumped to the ground, shaking. His hands curled into fists as he breathed fast and heavy, his eyes widening in the darkness of the cell.

"Hey, is something wrong?" said Kisame to the man in black, frowning.

"Just watch." the man answered, gazing at the boy on the floor.

And suddenly, just like that, Deidara stopped shaking, picked himself up off the ground and stood, his head down.

"So?" said Kisame. "Did it work?"

The man in black spoke, ignoring him.

"Welcome back."

And then, Deidara lifted his head. A cruel sneer twisted his lips, his eyes narrow and dark blue, almost black.

"Good to be back." he said, and the voice that came out of his mouth was harsh and cold, with some traces of a smile.

Kisame grinned, his pointy teeth flashing in the low light.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The man in black had been lying, of course.

Sakura was Sasuke's.

And even if Deidara found out... it wouldn't matter to him.

Because why would an Akatsuki care about a Kunoichi from Konoha?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The door opened and Sakura looked up, her eyes wide and fearful.

Sasuke stepped in.

"You!" said Sakura angrily.

Sasuke walked up to her.

"Me." he replied.

Though the room was cold, Sakura felt the raw, warm anger bubbling up inside of her.

"You... you _monster_!" she shouted. "To do things like what you've done to everyone... just for power... you make me sick!"

She spat at him.

Sasuke didn't even do so much as twitch.

"I would be careful with your words. Here, you are the prisoner. I-"

"Don't you feel anything?" cried Sakura, straining against the bonds that held her strapped to the board behind her. "Don't you feel sadness? Do you have any humanity left in you?"

Sasuke's face, swathed in shadow, gave no sign of registering any emotion.

"I need your powers, and unless you give them over willingly, I will have to take them by force." he said in a monotone.

"You're changing the subject!" Sakura shouted, her eyes glowing with rage. "Where is Deidara?"

Sasuke was silent.

"YOU MONSTER!" she shrieked, and Sasuke sent a bolt of lightning into her chest.

Sakura jerked, shuddering, and went limp.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, looking down at Sasuke's face with teary eyes. "Why did you change? Why?"

Sasuke's fists clenched, and he turned around, mumbling something under his breath and starting towards the door, a headache already developing in his skull.

Sakura watched him leaving, hanging her head as the cold metal door shut behind him.

But she had won.

Because at the last moment, when he turned, she'd seen the smallest, almost invisible trace of sadness and remorse cross his face.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara walked down the hallway with his two Akatsuki comrades and the man in black.

"Hey, you better not team me up with that idiot Tobi again, yeah." he said. "Because if he survived my art, I'll make him wish that he-"

"He survived." said Itachi.

"How about the Uchia? Did die at least, yeah?" Deidara groaned.

"Do you not remember any of the things that took place after you were rescued from your own explosion?" said Kisame, surprised.

Deidara thought back. "Well, I saw this freaky glowing guy, yeah... does that count?"

"What?" said Kisame.

"Never mind." muttered Deidara. "So, what now?"

"We're working for the Maika for a little while." said Itachi. "We will transport a Kunoichi for some other person helping the Maika."

"I don't think this is work worthy of my art, yeah." huffed Deidara.

"This is dangerous work." said the man in black. "The Kunoichi is strong. She is the one that killed your partner."

"Tobi's dead?" said Deidara. "YES! Now-"

"No. Before that." said Itachi.

"Oh, Sasori? So the Kunoichi killed Sa-"

His eyes widened, then narrowed.

"It'll be a pleasure to escort the little idiot to her doom, yeah." sneered Deidara. "Ha! Sasori would love this."

Itachi and Kisame's eyes slid towards each other before turning slowly to Deidara.

"What?" said Deidara. "Why are you staring at me, yeah?"

"Oh... no reason." said Kisame.

"Hey, so did I do anything stupid while I was-"

"Nothing important." said Itachi quickly.

"What's up with you guys, yeah?" asked Deidara crossly. "Acting like I'm some-"

"Come." interrupted the man in black, motioning outside.

There was a small, iron cage with a wooden platform in front sitting in the grass. The platform had a thick tube upright on it, what looked like steering controls in front. The whole thing was sitting on six wheels.

"What the heck?" said Deidara.

"Chakra-powered vehicle. Special Maika technology. Get on the wooden part." said the man in black, stepping on. The three Akatsuki stepped in, and then the wheels spun, finally moving the whole thing forward at a breakneck speed.

"Wh-whoa!" said Kisame, stumbling back. "You sure this is safe?"

The man didn't answer.

"Okay, then. Be that way." muttered Kisame.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura was led out of what she had recently discovered to be one of Orochimaru's old bases in chains.

The ones leading her out had their faces covered, so she could see them.

_Next stop... death._ she thought gloomily. _Sasuke has to kill me in order to get my powers._

A bird chirped and landed on a nearby tree.

Heh. Birds.

It almost reminded her of...

"DEIDARA!" she shouted, her eyes widening and trembling.

He was standing in Akatsuki robes next to a strange-looking vehicle.

She stumbled forward, but the men leading her out restrained her.

"DEIDARA, HELP! HELP, IT'S ME!" she shouted.

"What the heck?" said Deidara. "You killed my partner Sasori. It's fitting that you pay for your crimes, yeah."

Sakura was confused. "What? But... you promised to protect me... and, and...!"

Tear welling up in her eyes, she looked up and met Deidara's.

They were a dark, icy shade of blue.

Sakura gasped.

"No...!" she whispered. "Dediara, this isn't right! You're insane again! Come back!"

One of the men grabbed a chain and flung her into the iron cage on the wooden platform, closing the door behind her.

Sakura frantically looked through the bars of the one small window that there was, and saw a very confused Deidara staring back at her.

"Deidara..." she said. "Don't you... remember me?"

"Remember you?" he scoffed. "Of course I do! You're the one that killed my man, Sasori, yeah!"

"No... after that! In the caves, and... and the old lady and..."

Deidara looked at her in disgust.

"Definitely insane, yeah." he muttered, turning away.

"No." whispered Sakura, "you're the one that's insane."

"What?" said Deidara. "How dare you insult me! I could kill you right now if I wanted to."

"But you wouldn't." sobbed Sakura, the tears streaming freely down her cheeks now. "You said you would protect me-"

"I didn't say anything like that, yeah!" said Deidara, his eyes narrowed in hate. "Why would I say something like that to a art-hater like yourself, yeah?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" cried Sakura. "That's all you say! Say something else for once!"

"Why, you...!" said Deidara, reaching for a kunai.

"That's enough." said Itachi. "Deidara, she's trying to make you angry so you'll set her free. Don't listen to her. She plays with you mind."

"Yeah, you're right." said Deidara. "Frikin' leaf ninja isn't going to get the best of me."

Deidara turned and stepped back, suddenly furious.

"Hey, what's he doing here?" he yelled.

Sasuke turned in his direction. "What do you want?" he said.

"YOU SHOULD BE DEAD, YOU ART-HATING DUCK-BUTT HAIRED-" Deidara began to rant, but Kisame cut him off.

"Just shut up!" he growled. "You're so annoying!" Then, he groaned, leaning his head back. "I sort of liked you better with the regulator."

"Hmph!" said Deidara, turning away. The vehicle started moving, and the yellow ponytail streamed out behind him in the wind.

Sakura slowly slid down the iron walls of her cage.

"That's it." she whispered to herself. "He's gone."

She laid her head in her hands and cried.

"Hey, stop crying so loud, yeah! It's annoying!" said Deidara from outside.

Sakura curled up, blinking tears out of her tired eyes, her shoulders shaking silently as she sobbed for her lost friend.

_Friend?_ thought Sakura. _He was more than a friend. He was my partner._

And then it struck her.

_I loved him. _

_ I loved him and now he's gone. Forever._

Sakura let out a cry.

"Ugh! Stop crying!" said Deidara, looking in. "Whatever your boo-hooing ever, it probably-"

Sakura looked up into his eyes, tears dripping onto the iron floor.

"P-probably..." stammered Deidara.

Her lower lip trembled as her eyes filled up with water again.

"Probably..." whispered Deidara.

Suddenly, he bent over, cluching his head.

"AAAAAARGH...!" he grunted.

"What's going on?" said Itachi.

"N-nothing!" stuttered Deidara, shaking. "Headache, headache, headache...!"

He stood up, face dripping with sweat.

"You did this!" he said to Sakura. "You think you can use your little mind games against me, yeah? Well, WRONG!"

He whirled and strutted away.

And Sakura stared at the roof of the cage she was in until it gave way to darkness and uneasy dreams.


	13. Back

**Author's Note: Why, hello there! I thought I'd just mention in the author's notes here how I got my first inspiration for this story. **

**I remember the first time I saw Deidara on Naruto, the first thing that popped into my mind was, "that guy is completely insane. He's gotta be! But...why?" Then, saw that ****Pheonixx****on deviantart had drawn a fake "Deidara's Childhood" series, and that inspired me to think more. In the end, this story is in no way based on that, except for the fact that he was in an orphanage and some kids beat him up. I started thinking up a story. And then, I discovered DeiSaku, and integrated Sakura into the story, changing it completely. So, here ya go! The end. Enjoy, and review!**

Chapter Thirteen

It was awkward in the small wooden vehicle as it trundled it's way across the woods.

Deidara was glaring at Sasuke and Itachi, Sasuke was glaring at Itachi, and Itachi was just sitting with his head down, occasionally looking up. Every time he looked up he felt the stares of the two teenagers and looked down again.

Kisame fidgeted with his giant sword.

Every once in a while they heard Sakura moan something in her sleep.

"So." said Kisame. "Uh... how far are we from this base place?" he asked the man driving.

The man didn't answer.

"What's it with everyone ignoring me these days?" muttered Kisame, crossing his arms.

"How far are we from my base?" said Sasuke.

"About a day." said the man.

Kisame opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it and started glared at the man driving.

"Do not stare. It is impolite." said the man, without even turning around.

Kisame turned red and looked down.

It was about at this time that Sakura woke up, blinking and rubbing her eyes.

She stood and looked out the window of her cage.

"Hey, look. The little witch woke up, yeah." said Deidara.

Sakura sagged a little. "I'm not a witch." she mumbled.

"Yeah you are!" said Deidara, walking up to the small window she stared out of, crossing his arms. "With your little mind games!"

"I didn't do anything!" said Sakura angrily. "That was you! It was you remembering!"

"Remembering _what_?" Deidara asked. "Just what is this stuff I'm supposed to be remembering, yeah?"

Sakura looked him in the eyes, and answered in a tired, defeated voice.

"Everything."

Then, she slid down to stare at the her hands in her lap.

"Psht. You're so depressing, yeah." said Deidara, but his voice cracked a little at the 'yeah'.

"Don't talk to her. She's gonna mess with your mind again." warned Kisame, shaking his head.

"Y-yeah." said Deidara, walking away.

But his eyes gave away the turmoil inside him, and Itachi noticed.

"If you think about it too much, the state of mind you were in before will return again. You don't want that to happen, so don't ponder much." he said quietly.

"What do _you_ know about inner turmoil?" muttered Sasuke.

"What?" said Itachi, turning to meet Sasuke's blazing eyes.

"Stop fighting. It's annoying." said Kisame in disgust.

"On the contrary. Let them kill each other; I hate them both, yeah." muttered Deidara, rubbing his temples as he squeezed his eyes shut.

"You thought about it more, didn't you." said Itachi, looking at him disapprovingly.

"How am I supposed to STOP thinking about it, if you keep trying to remind me not to, yeah?"

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Kisame chimed in.

"You know what doesn't make sense?" Deidara shouted.

"What?" Kisame shouted back.

"Your HAIR, yeah!" said Deidara, smirking.

"MY HAIR IS BEAUTIFUL IN IT'S OWN WAY!"

"Um... people?" said Sakura quietly from her cage.

They ignored her.

"Shut up about hair! Why does that even matter?" said Sasuke.

"Well, you wouldn't know, with your little duck-butt hair." said Itachi, looking bored.

"Well, how would YOU know if you're BLIND, HUH?" snarled Sasuke.

"Er... Akatsuki people? Guys?" said Sakura.

They were all too absorbed in their quarreling to listen.

"Okay, you know WHAT?" shouted Itachi, loosing his cool. "You... you are just... AUGH! SO ANNOYING!"

Kisame blinked in surprise. "Wow... Itachi actually lost his cool!" he said.

"And YOU... JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!" shouted Itachi. "No one cares what you have to say!"

Kisame's eyes narrowed. "Hey! Don't talk to me like that!" he said.

"Hey! PEOPLE!" Sakura yelled

"BE QUIET!" everyone shouted back.

And then, suddenly, lots of huge wind spheres rained down on the vehicle. It shattered, and crashed down. Everyone stumbled and fell.

As they were standing up, a group of ninjas wearing black with swirls on the back of their robes surrounded them.

"What's going on?" Sasuke asked the driver, who looked strangely calm.

The driver smiled.

"Have fun." he said, before he leapt away.

And suddenly, what looked like great big balls of fire rained down on them, smashing the what was left of the vehicle completely.

Sakura tumbled out of her cage, the chains that once held her and restrained her powers smashed, and stood.

_Darn. I... I can't escape!_ she though.

The ninja surrounding them got closer, and Sakura backed up... right into everyone else.

"Fight together? Just this once?" Kisame pleaded.

The rest of them muttered their reluctant approval and those with weapons drew them.

Sakura looked down at her hands and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she saw her pair of pink daggers. They sparked where they touched her skin.

Deidara stuck his hand in the small pouch by his side, and waited as the mouths on his hands chewed.

One of the ninjas, probably the head ninja, roared a battle cry and as all the ninja sprang forward, the battle began.

A group of them converged on Itachi. He turned to face one of them and immediately he fell to his knees.

But Itachi knew that there were too many to use his sharingan on all of them.

Itachi spread his arms, and a flock of crows burst from his robes, turning to spinning shuriken.

Some of the ninjas slid under them, some jumped over, and some where flung back as the weapons struck them.

One of the ninja's drew a kunai and brought it down on Itachi, but he dodged and spinned, unleashing a kick that flung the ninja back. He felt another one behind him and spun, drawing a kunai from his belt, and stabbed the ninja in the chest. The ninja took the opportunity to kick Itachi, who stumbled back put still managed to punch a ninja running towards him.

And then, he suddenly felt many small, sharp pains in his back, and turned just in time to see a group of tiny needles, barely visible, dig their way into him.

Itachi breathed out and made his chakra push them out again, and then they rose into the air and attacked the ninja who had launched them.

Itachi whirled and grabbed a Kunai from mid-air that had flown towards his head. He flung it to the side and drew a katana from a small sheath on his back.

Meanwhile, beside him, Kisame was dealing with his own group of ninja.

He swung his sword into one of the ninja, who cried out in pain as it drank in his chakra and the scales grew longer.

"Wow." muttered Kisame. "How'd these dudes get so much chakra?"

A ninja leaped at him, and he swung the sword, but, the man landed _on _the sword. Even though his feet were scraped and torn, he jumped off and tried to impale Kisame's head with a spear. Kisame stepped to the side and grabbed the spear, swinging it around him. Many ninja fell back, but many also ran under it, racing towards the shark-like man.

Kisame rammed his sword into the men, and they fell back, bloodied.

A ninja approached him from the back, kunai aloft, but Kisame ducked and jabbed his hand into his stomach. The ninja desperately grabbed the sword, Samehada, but it's scales drank in his chakra and he slumped to the ground.

Sasuke was using his katana and his lightning powers, zapping anyone who came to close.

A huge group of ninja came close, but Sasuke brought down a bolt of lightning that carved a deep crack in the ground between them. The ninja, however, jumped over the deep hole and drew swords, bringing them down all around Sasuke. One of them slashed the skin on his shoulder, and Sasuke grabbed for it, wincing in pain.

Sakura was having an easy time defeating the ninja. She brought up a wall of earth, and rammed it into the ninja in front of her. Then, stabbed down with one of her daggers. It send a shock wave out that slammed into some ninja attacking from behind, also flinging back some of the ones going for Itachi.

Sakura lifted her dagger in the air, and many spikes of earth dug their way up out of the ground. She then pointed it at all the Ninja attacking Itachi, who surprisingly seemed to be having the hardest time fighting off his attackers, and all the spikes drove into the men. Many fell over, and others took evasive measures, ducking and dodging them.

Itachi nodded his thanks and joined Kisame to help him with the ninja flocking around him. More of the black-clad men were flying out of the nearby trees to help their comrades.

Deidara, however, was having trouble.

He threw a bird. "KATSU!"

It exploded into a small worm that plopped down onto the ground in front of the five confused ninja standing ready to attack them.

"What the heck?" he muttered. "Turn into a BIRD! KATSU!"

The worm grew big and bloated, roaring through a circular mouth full of teeth that went all around it's circumference.

"Uh... close enough, yeah?" said Deidara.

The worm threw itself at Deidara and it's teeth snapped as it tried to consume him.

"AAAAAAAAH!" he screamed, and the worm exploded all over him, leaving scratches all over his body. His Akatsuki robes were ripped to shreds.

The ninja threw themselves onto him, holding down his arms and legs, one on each limb. The fifth ninja raised a can of what looked like sleeping gas.

Suddenly, a tree branch whipped into all of them, flinging them yards away.

Deidara sat up and turned to see Sakura, looking at him with a worried look in her eyes.

"What's your problem, yeah?" he said, brushing shards of the destroyed worm off himself and standing up.

And that was the final straw for Sakura. She couldn't take it anymore.

"DEIDARA!" she screamed, and ran at him, jumping into the air and wrapping her arms around his neck as she knocked him down. Her tears flew behind her as they tumbled to the ground.

He lay on the ground, surprised. Sakura was on top of him with her knees on either side of his stomach. Her hair fell over her face, framing him like a pink frame over a portrait of heartbreak.

She leaned over him, planting her hands into the ground. Her hands were gripping the daggers so hard, that they bled. But she didn't care. She let them bleed.

Deidara blinked and his eyes widened in surprise.

"Deidara... come back...!" she sobbed, her face directly over Deidara's. The tears that dripped from her eyes splashed onto his face, making him blink. "I miss you, how you always told me I was mean, your sweet little smile... I miss the cute way you always spazzed out, when we saw the ghost lady and when I told you that I didn't believe you... I haven't known you for very long, but I saw you, your personality, and how behind the meek, smiling outside..!"

Sakura sobbed, her shoulders shaking, and she squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the tears to rain down. Deidara's fingers dug into the ground as he started to shake, gritting his teeth.

She opened her eyes, ridden with sorrow. "You didn't think you deserved anything good... after your life took a wrong turn... behind the meek, smilling outside you were always... ALWAYS HURTING INSIDE!" she shouted.

Deidara looked up into Sakura's eyes, and she saw them, still confused and still dark blue. He was breathing heavily, as the inner struggle inside him flared up.

Overcome with the only emotion she could possibly feel then, with Deidara so close, yet so far, far away, she wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her head in his shoulder, snuggling into his chest like she had all those times before, in the cave. Just them two, late at night, when she cried on his shoulder. When there was no more reason left to hold the sadness in her heart.

Some of the ninja broke off of the battle with Itachi, Kisame, and Sasuke, who were all fighting together now, and started to surround the two teenagers lying on the grassy earth.

"You protected me for no reason. You saved me. I'm yours, Deidara... you deserve me. So protect me now. Deidara..!" she cried sofly.

She trembled and shut her eyes tightly as she waited for Deidara to throw her off and maybe kill her because of her outburst.

But instead...

Instead he just sat up, lacing his fingers into Sakura's pink hair. She looked up in surprise, turning her head slightly on his shoulder.

He brought his lips to her ear and whispered slowly and softly into it.

"I swore that I would protect you to the best of my abilities... and I will keep my promise."

Sakura's mouth opened a little, freezing in complete surprise.

"Don't cry, Sakura, I'm here. Plus, you're scaring me. And squeezing me to death."

Sakura grabbed his shoulders and pulled back, searching for his eyes.

Bright, soft sky-blue eyes stared back at her. Eyes that could only mean one thing.

"You're... you're back..!" said Sakura. Deidara smiled slightly.

Reality sank into Sakura and Deidara waited.

_I bet she's going to kiss me now!_ he thought.

And suddenly, Sakura's fist smacked into the side of his face, and he fell over, groaning.

"DON'T YOU EVER DARE LEAVE ME AGAIN!" she yelled, but her face was happy and her tears tears of joy.

Deidara stood up, pulling Sakura up with his other hand.

"Now, what do you say we fight off these ninja that seem to have no respect for private moments?" he said. His twin daggers materialized in his palms and slowly lit up.

"With pleasure." said Sakura, grinning. Her knives started to glow.

"Aw, man." groaned Kisame, swinging his sword into a desperate ninja that was clinging to his robes. "Looks like soft goody-goody Deidara's back."

Itachi speared someone on his katana and shoved them away, opening his mouth to talk.

And then, just like that, all the ninja suddenly ran towards the forest, disappearing into the trees.

Sasuke swung his sword, his eyes closed, and then opened them, looking for all the disappeared ninja.

"Well." said Deidara. "That was odd."

"Odd indeed." said Itachi.

They stood there.

"Something's wrong." said Sasuke, clenching his fists.

"Smart observation!" said a voice. Everyone turned.

Milton Wernie stood on a tree branch.

Deidara and Sakura growled simultaneously, their knives lighting up.

Sasuke shuddered.

And then, his eyes widened.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no..!" he said.

Milton grinned and his eyes twinkled.

"EVERYONE, RUN!" shouted Sasuke, his eyes blazing.

Everyone started to, but suddenly ropes sprung from the ground and lashed themselves around the five of them in a sort of twisted web.

A shock went through it, and through all of them, and they shuddered as it passed. Little needles were embedded all over the ropes, and they cut into them.

"You can't move anymore. In fact, the poison spreading all over your bodies right now will make you fall asleep in about a minute!"

"Why?" said Sasuke through gritted teeth, feeling the numbness spread throughout his body. "Why would you do this?"

"Oh, Master will explain everything soon, soon, soon!" said Milton, sliding down the tree. "For now, you should sleep! Oh, yes... this is way better than expected! All three of 'em... Master will be pleased!"

"How could this happen?" muttered Itachi.

"Ah, I thought you'd ask!" said Milton. "The Maika's ninja were here as a distraction while I planted the nets. Simple, really."

"Who's behind all this?" said Kisame, frowning. "Who could want us so bad?"

"You'll find out sooon enough." Milton sang. "Master will want to see you when you wake up!"

"Sakura," said Deidara quickly. "I'm sorry. I... I shouldn't have hurt you, this is all my fault-"

"No, it's okay." said Sakura, strangely at peace. She turned her neck with great effort, meeting his wide, worried blue eyes. "I don't regret meeting you. You brought hope into my life, and... I brought hope into yours.

"Sakura..." said Deidara, his eyes filling with tears. "Thank you."

And then they all fell asleep.

Something in Milton's pocket started to glow.

He got out the glass circle and a small hologram flickered to life in the middle.

"Oh, Master!" he said happily. "You won't believe it, I got all three! And two more, Itachi and Kisame."

"Ah... so that's three, plus the two. Five total... oh, yes, perfect. They will all be useful." said the hologram. "I grow weaker by the day, living on borrowed time like this. Bring them, quickly. We must summon the lord of destruction!"

"Yezzir!" said Milton, saluting.

"Stop that. Stop that now." said the hologram.

Milton nodded. "Okey-"

The hologram flickered out.

"Dokey." he finished. "How rude!"

Milton tucked the glass circle into his pocket and went forward to retrieve the five captured ninja who lay asleep, like a spider coming forward to prey on the unfortunate flies that .happened to get caught in it's web.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Everyone, assemble!" called Naruto.

The group of ninja gathered around him and Gaara, who stood beside him.

They were standing outside what looked like a small, deserted base. It only had three hallways, with 48 rooms in total.

"Okay." said Gaara. "Let's recap on all the evidence we found."

Rock Lee read from the scroll with the list on it. "The Akatsuki robes, ring, and the headband, Sakura's bloodied clothes, an arrow with some of Sakura's shirt on it. Then, in this base which was in the same area, we found the small device that was on the side of Deidara's head in the picture with Sakura, a single strand of what is probably Sakura's hair, and some of Sasuke's clothes. There are tracks leading out from here, made by some kind of vehicle."

"So... now we follow the tracks?" said Tenten.

"Yeah!" said Naruto. "Whoever these guys are, they really aren't good at covering their tracks!"

"Oh, and we found this." said Ino, coming forward with something.

"What's this?" said Naruto, taking the strange cloak.

It was black, with a golden swirl on the back.

"Hey, Gaara!" said Naruto, bringing the cloak to him. "You know what this is?"

Gaara looked at it, and his eyes widened. "Uh-oh."

"What, what is it?" said Ino, worried.

"This is something I haven't seen for a while." said Gaara. "It's... the Maika."

"The Maika?" said Neji. "Weren't they that small group that attacked some places?"

"Yes." said Gaara, looking worried. "The Maika was a small group that believed in some legend about three people with extraordinary powers. They were... sort of a terrorist organization, like the Akatsuki. But bigger, with more members. More like a cult. They bombed places, saying things about a certain 'lord of destruction' that they wanted to come. Their last act was about... six years ago or so, before they disappeared completely. It would be very troubling if they came back, because they were very dangerous. Even now, they captured two very powerful ninja."

"What was their last act six years ago?" asked Rock Lee.

"It was in Iwakagure." said Gaara, looking down at the cloak thoughtfully. "When they shot a man with an arrow containing poison that soon turned him into a monster. The monster went out of control killed his own wife, leaving behind a young boy who witnessed the whole thing.. He is believed to remain enclosed in a pocket world, which his wife created using a rare, almost unknown jutsu right before her death."

"His... his mother killed his own father?" whispered Naruto. "That's terrible and sad, even worse than having parents killed in a war. Who? Did we ever meet him?"

Gaara looked at Naruto, and then he sweeped his gaze over the rest of the group of young ninja.

"Yes." he said. "Most of you probably met him."

Gaara looked at the horizon, at the sun setting as it's rays of light faded.

"Because that young boy... was Deidara."


	14. Brother

**Author's Note: Heh, well I didn't expect to get this finished by today, but... well, ta-daaa! Her ya go!  
>Enjoy, and review pweeeze!<strong>

Chapter Fourteen

They all woke up at the same time, tied around a thick wooden pole.

"Deidara?" said Sakura, and turned to her right.

He looked at her, and they started to smile, but it was cut short when Kisame spoke.

"Hey! Where are we?" he said.

Sasuke and Itachi both turned, saw that they were next to each other, and turned away.

There was silence.

"This place looks familiar." said Sasuke, looking all around.

"Really?" said Deidara. "Because... well, I've never been here."

It was a huge room, colored all in gold and red with a chair in front of a pole. It looked suspiciously like a throne, and was decorated with shining gold and rubies.

"No, not the place. Just... how it's decorated." said Sasuke. "It's familiar."

"I see nothing familiar." said Itachi.

"Do you even SEE at all?" Sasuke said back.

Itachi hung his head a little.

"Is this REALLY the time for that? Is it REALLY?" said Sakura. "Is... is there any way to escaped from this thing?"

"Apparently not." said Sasuke.

"It is obvious." said Itachi.

"I hate you!" snarled Sasuke.

"Settle down!" said Kisame, annoyed. "The question is, how do we get outta here?"

"The answer is simple." said a voice.

A man stepped out of the shadows and stood in front of the throne.

Deidara's eyes widened and Sakura gasped as they peeked around the sides of the pole. Sasuke snarled fiercely, and Itachi's eyes narrowed. Kisame seemed strangely unsurprised.

Because the man before them was... he was...

"No!" yelled Sasuke. "You're... you're dead! I killed you! It's not possible!" he started to shake.

"Oh, but it is!" said Orochimaru, stepping forward towards the pole.

"How?" said Itachi. "How did you live?"

"Why are you here?" said Deidara.

Orochimaru laughed darkly. "Patience, patience." he said. "Don't you want to hear the whole story?"

They were quiet.

Orochimaru started to talk.

"You can't use your powers, by the way. The ropes have special properties."

He felt the glares of his captives and went on.

"Have you all heard the story of the Bird, the Spider, and the Snake?"

They nodded.

"Wonder how _they _heard it?" whispered Deidara out of the corner of his mouth. Sakura shrugged.

"Well, it actually happened. All of it." said Orochimaru, clasping his hands with his long, thin fingers. "And the three individuals had children, therefore passing down the animal spirits."

"After I left the Akatsuki, the Maika came to me and explained that they had found the animal spirits, and needed my help as their leader. They said that one of them was in Iwakagure, one of them somehow ended up in the Uchia clan, and one of them was in Konoha."

Orochimaru circled the pole slowly, like a vulture stalking it's prey, and turned to Deidara.

"The Maika's ultimate goal is to bring the Lord of Destruction, which can only be brought by corrupting the Spider or someone who previously contained the spider. When a human containing an animal spirit is corrupted, it means that it brings out it's true self."

"However," he went on, "The animal spirit had already been passed down to you, Deidara. The Maika, having no idea that the Spider had a son, shot a poisoned arrow at your father. It corrupted him, because even if the spirit is passed down, anyone in the past that has contained it is left with great power. It was fine, and it worked."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "And then your stupid mommy had to go and ruin it all, locking him in space. The Lord of Destruction was lost. And if he's already the Lord of Destruction, you can't become it."

"Wait." said Deidara. "Are you saying that-"

"Deidara." said Orochimaru. "You are the Spider. Sakura, you are the Bird. And Sasuke, you are the Snake."

They were all shocked.

"I'm going to pretend that you asked me why I care about bringing the Lord of Destruction." said Orochimaru. "Well, I don't. The Maika want to destroy the world. But I only want more power."

He looked down at his hand and clenched his fist. "I'm living on borrowed time. The only reason I survived was the pieces of me that Kabuto implanted onto himself. I eventually managed to break free of him and rejoin the Maika."

"So? Why are we here? I still don't understand!" said Sakura.

"Ah, the point!" said Orochimaru, his face twisting into a cruel smile. "Well, you all must know that I want more power. I want to learn everything there is to learn. I want... everything! And you three... you three could give me enough power to RULE THE WORLD! I just have to do a special ritual and I will get all your raw, true powers. I have betrayed the Maika, because I don't care about the Lord of Destruction. I've been using them all along."

He cackled. "But, unfortunately, I fear that none of you will survive this. I will leave your cadavers before Konoha's gates as a little warning, because that will be the first village I destroy with my new powers."

"And us? Why me and Itachi?" said Kisame in disbelief.

"Because. This ritual requires additional human sacrifice to be added for it to work."

Orochimaru turned to Sasuke.

"It was nice knowing you. You were a very interesting person to study, yes, yes. But now you must die, all of you."

He waved. "Goodbye!"

And then there was a great rumbling noise heard, and the pole started to rise.

"N-no!" shouted Sasuke. "You can't do this!" he wrenched against his bonds.

"It's hopless." said Sakura. "We're all going to die!"

"It's... it's okay." said Deidara.

"No, it's NOT okay!" shouted Sakura. "I just got you back, and... and..."

"Sasuke." said Itachi. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you."

"What?" said Sasuke, his rage replaced momentarily by curiosity.

And then, suddenly, Orochimaru's crazed laugh filled the room. "DIE!" he shouted.

And then, red lightning crashed down from the four corners of the ceiling and struck them.

They all screamed, long, drawn-out, almost un-human screams. The sounds escaping them would be enough to traumatize even the strongest, toughest ninja.

Kisame slumped.

Itachi's eyes closed and his head fell to the side.

Sasuke, Deidara and Sakura thrashed against their bonds as pain ripped through them.

"Yes... YES!" Orochimaru shouted from the floor far below, as he spread his arms and the power started leaking into him.

Sakura reached for Deidara's hand, shaking wildly as the lightning coursed through her. Deidara did the same.

And then their hands touched.

The pain faded slightly.

Deidara's eyes widened. "SASUKE!" he shouted, reaching his hand out. "Grab my hand!"

Sasuke didn't protest, finding it harder to breathe every second as his body shut down, and grabbed his hand.

There was a huge explosion that shook the entire room.

"What?" shouted Orochimaru. "What... what happened?"

And then, the smoke cleared and Deidara, Sakura, Sasuke, and Itachi picked themselves off the ground.

"Where's Kisame?" said Itachi.

Orochimaru turned to them, rage flaring up in his eyes.

"RUN!" yelled Deidara, and the four dashed towards the hallway that led somewhere, anywhere that wasn't this room.

They breathed heavily and pain shot through them with every step. The effects of their apparent murders still lingered.

They were just starting down the hallway when they saw Kisame and screeched to a stop.

"Kisame." said Itachi. "How did you..."

Orochimaru approached from the other end of the hallway. "Oh, you didn't know?"

Kisame smirked. "The Kisame on the pole was a clone. Orochimaru offered me freedom right before you all woke up... and, what can I say? I'd rather just kill you all and live.

He drew his sword.

"You have betrayed me." said Itachi.

"So?" said Kisame. "It won't matter now. You all were gonna die anyway!"

They backed up.

"Can we really defeat... _him_?" said Sakura nervously.

"Yeah." said Sasuke. "We can."

Kisame chuckled. "Well then, let's see you do it, pretty boy!"

Sasuke yelled and leapt forward, swinging his katana.

Kisame swung his sword into Sasuke, and he fell to the ground, bloodied.

"Sasuke!" said Itachi, and turned to Kisame. "Sharingan!"

Kisame just stood and smiled.

"Fool." said Orochimaru, looking at Itachi. "I have discovered a way to block the sharingan an have granted Kisame this power. There is nothing you can do."

Itachi gritted his teeth.

And suddenly, Deidara and Sakura were standing in front of him and the defeated Sasuke.

"We'll finish this." they said together, summoning their daggers.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "So you have learned of your powers." he said. "Well, let's see what you can do."

Kisame swung his sword, but Deidara brought up a wall of earth and the sword went through it. He jumped onto the wall and brought one of his daggers down.

But Kisame was prepared. He jumped back, and the blue, glowing dagger impaled the ground.

Sakura sprouted her large pink wings and glided towards Kisame. When he swung his sword, she only soared above it and flipped to land behind him, lashing a kick backwards. Kisame stumbled, but quickly regained his balance.

Eight tall blue spider legs sprouted along Deidara's back, each longer than his height. And then, Kisame saw Diedara above him, held aloft by the spider legs, and stabbed up with Kisame. Sakura rammed into Deidara, just as the sword pierced the air where he had been moments before.

"Thanks!" said Deidara.

"No problem." Sakura responded.

But then Kisame thrust his sword, and there was no way to block him. Both Sakura and Deidara had let their guard down, and now they closed their eyes-"

There was a great crashing noise, and the two slowly opened their eyes.

In front of them were Sasuke and Itachi, straining to hold back the sword, samehada, with their own katanas.

Sasuke's Katana crackled with electricity.

"Quickly!" shouted Itachi. "Attack!"

Deidara and Sakura nodded and wove under the katanas, stabbing Kisame in the stomach with their daggers.

Kisame looked down, displeased, and kicked Sakura in the stomach. She was thrown back, skidding off on the ground and clutching her stomach.

"You... you will pay for that!" shouted Deidara, and plunged his other knight into the shark man.

But then, he suddenly wrenched his sword back and launched himself at Sasuke, landing on top of him. Sasuke's katana spun out from his grasp, and Kisame brought the sword down-

Sasuke tried to block the sword with his hands, but screamed as it cut into him.

"SASUKE!" shouted Itachi, coming forward, but Kisame batted him back and proceeded to stab Sasuke in the stomach with his sword.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Sasuke. Kisame raised the sword and stabbed down again, and blood spurted all over the floor.

"Stop... please...!" cried Sasuke. But Kisame , by now, had gone completely out of his mind. He laughed maniacally as he twisted his sword into the the helpless boy on the floor. Blood dripped out of Sasuke's mouth.

And then Itachi, enraged, ran Kisame through with his sword.

But Kisame wasn't done just yet.

He picked up Sasuke and to the end of the hallway. Everyone sped after him as fast as they could.

And then they screeched to a stop.

It was... a cliff. The edge of a cliff, with the rest of the the Maika headquarters at it's base. Stairs wound down the side of the cliff in a spiral.

But Kisame had no intention of using the stairs.

He grabbed the gasping Sasuke by the collar and dropped him over the side of the cliff.

"NO!" shouted Itachi, and started running, his feet making soft patting noises as they hit the ground.

_**pat pat pat**_

___What have I come to? _thought Itachi. _I... I just wanted to help Sasuke, help him get stronger. That's why I joined the Akatsuki in the first place. But has it really all come to this?_

_**pat pat pat pat pat**_

___All I wanted to do was help my brother._

_**patpat patpat patpat**_

___But all I've been doing all this time... is hurting him. I didn't mean for this to happen. I've placed him in real danger, far greater danger than he can face himself. I've damaged his mind. Even though he is strong outside, he's dying within himself._

_**patpatpatpatpatpatpat**_

___I'm sorry Sasuke. For everything._

_ And now, I will save you._

_**PAT**_

__And with that thought, Itachi launched himself off the edge of the cliff and dove after his younger brother.

"Darn you, Itachi, you can't fly!" shouted Sakura after them.

"No... but you can." said Deidara, turning to her.

Sakura blinked. "But... what about you?"

"I'll hold Orochimaru off." he said. "Quickly, Sakura!"

She nodded, spread her wings, and dove after Itachi and Sasuke.

Deidara brought his two daggers together. They glowed and fused, turning into a large, blue, blowing sword.

Orochimaru walked out of the hallway.

"You will be mine!" he shouted. "I will make sure that you do not get away!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sasuke felt the pain stop. And then, he was falling.

His blood streamed from his open wounds, trailing above him as he fell. His vision was hazy.

_Is this... really... how this will end?_ he thought.

And then, he saw a shape. It was a person... but why was someone else falling? Who was it?

And then he saw the sun glint off of red eyes.

_ITACHI? _he thought.

Itachi ripped off his Akatsuki robes, leaving only the simple outfit behind, because it was slowing his descent towards Sasuke. His eyes were determined and solid.

And then he was beside Sasuke.

"Itachi...?" said Sasuke weakly. "Why...?"

"Sasuke..." said Itachi. "Because all I have done has been to try and help you! Because all the cruel words I spoke to you were to make you stronger. But... I was mistaken. I shouldn't have tried to make you stronger like that. It was wrong."

He looked his brother in the eyes.

"Sasuke..." he asked. "Will you ever forgive me?"

Sasuke was silent for a moment.

His eyes filled with tears, that lingered above with the drops of blood that leaked from his body.

"Only if you explain more later, you idiot!" said Sasuke, but the tears he cried were happy tears, and the smile on his face was a real smile, the first one in years.

And Itachi's smile was real as well.

It was... relief. A weight lifted from both their shoulders.

They were brothers again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As this was happening, Sakura was diving after them, wings pointed behind her, the feathers whipping in the wind that rushed in her ears. Her hair streamed out behind her as she fell.

Deidara waited for Orochimaru's first attack, tensed for battle, while the snake-like man licked his lips, trying to decide how to kill the lone ninja.

But separated from all this, yet close by...

A certain group of young ninjas was darting and weaving it's way through the woods towards the Maika's headquarters.


	15. Fight

**Author's Note: WOW, this chapter took ages to write! It's extremely action-y this time. EXTREMELY.**

**Huh. I bet this is my longest chapter record. I CANT BELIEVE HOW MANY HITS I'VE GOTTEN ON THIS! And so fast, too! If you're reading and haven't reviewed yet, kindly do, please! I'd love to know your opinions of the story, how I can improve it, and if it's going well. Anyway, enjoy this chapter! That I happened to slave over for FOUR HOURS!**

**Feel bad yet? HUH? Haha, joking! Enjoy this chapter, guilt-free!**

Chapter Fifteen

The glowing blue sword slashed down through the air, cutting through the tens of snakes that shot forward and making its wielder, Deidara, stumble back.

"You think you can defeat ME?" Orochimaru roared, his eyes widening in madness. "I am more powerful than you!"

Deidara clenched his teeth and roared, leaping forward to thrust the sword into the snake-like man-

But Orochimaru darted to the side and launched a wave of snakes at him. The snakes engulfed his body, pulling him down into the writhing mass.

"I suggest you give up now, boy." sneered Orochimaru, watching Deidara frantically pull the snakes off himself.

"This battle isn't over yet." said Deidara.

But inside he was thinking differently.

_What'll I do?_ he thought, looking at the narrowed, snake-like eyes that glared at him from a distance. _Okay. Calm down. I just have to stall until Sakura comes back, and then we run. Simple... right? Anyway-_

"You're annoying me." said Orochimaru. "I'll just kill you quickly. Can't let the others get away, now, can I?"

"But if you do, you won't get your precious powers." said Deidara. "Isn't that right... Orochimaru?"

Orochimaru's eyes widened and his lips curled into a frown.

"Fine, then. When you're about to die, I'll take you back with your little friends to drain you of your powers. What difference does it make?"

Deidara smiled.

"Enough of a difference for me to be able to beat you." he said, and swung his sword.

Orochimaru jumped back and jabbed his hand into the pavement, cracking it and sending spikes shooting up. But Deidara jumped and skidded to a stop behind Orochimaru, and aimed for his back.

Orochimaru twisted, grabbed Deidara's arm, and flung him across the balcony-like ledge. He flew across the balcony, and skidded off the cliff-

And he reached up and grabbed the ledge, swinging himself back up and launching himself at Orochimaru, sword blazing. Orochimaru tensed.

But Deidara leapt over Orochimaru at the last second spinning in mid air, and drove his sword into the ground, bringing up thousands of tiny glowing spikes of stone.

A mass of snakes was suddenly there, swallowing them. But some made it through the line of defense, and the snake-man dodged as they flew by.

"You're getting on my nerves." he said, still facing away from Deidara.

"It's my speciality." said Deidara, turning to stab him.

Orochimaru grabbed the sword, and flung it back, throwing the blonde onto his back. The blue sword split into two separate daggers, which Deidara retrieved. Then, he immediately leapt to the side as three snakes shot out of Orochimaru's sleeve and thudded into the floor.

Deidara's eyes started to glow blue, and the marble in his daggers lit up with frightening intensity.

"Level Two." he said in a strange, metallic voice.

Orochimaru snickered. "You think you can fool me with a little light show like that?"

And then he extended his arms, and a snake shot forward, teeth bared.

Deidara slashed it in half in mid air and reconnected his daggers into a sword. This time, though, it was jagged and looked fierce.

"No. I think I can beat you with a light show like this." said Deidara.

"Well, let's see you DO IT!" shouted Orochimaru. And suddenly, his mouth swung open and a snake extended from it, opening it's mouth.

And out of the snake's mouth Orochimaru drew a huge, glistening sword.

The snake shot back in.

"Let's do this the old fashioned way, shall we?" said Orochimaru.

"With pleasure." Deidara responded.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!" they both yelled, leaping at each other.

Their swords clashed, and sparks flew.

Deidara saw Orochimaru's eyes, cold and snake-like, glaring at him for a second, before they both jumped back.

A giant, rough snake crashed up through the ground, and Orochimaru mounted it.

Deidara breathed out slowly, and a small bird, about the size of two skateboards rose up from the ground.

"Ha! You think you can defeat me with that?" cackled Orochimaru.

"I don't. I know I can." said Deidara. He jumped onto it, and sped towards Orochimaru.

The huge snake twisted, and Deidara flew around the curves, whipping his sword on a trajectory towards Orochimaru's head-

The snake ducked under the earthen bird and reared up beside Deidara, ready to bite.

But Deidara brought the sword down, and the snake made a hideous screeching noise as the cold metal cut into it.

Orochimaru suddenly let loose a shower of snakes, and they all opened their mouths, showing off their flashing knives.

Deidara leaped up into the air as they slashed his bird to shreds and turned to rise to attack him.

"LEVEL THREE!" he shouted, and suddenly a small, glowing golden circle appeared around his glowing blue iris, and his sword turned into a jagged scythe.

"HYAAAAAAAAA!" he shouted, and brought it down, cutting and slashing through all the snakes. A bird caught him, and he steadied himself, panting. And then he stood straight, the wind blowing his ponytail beside him. Strands of hair clung to his face.

"Tired already?" sneered Orochimaru. "Well, I'm just getting started!"

And suddenly, dozens of snakes were flying through the air at Deidara.

Deidara jumped and hacked through a group. And as he turned to destroy more, he saw Orochimaru's face, right next to his.

And then he felt the cold metal of the sword under his neck.

"This is over." said Orochimaru. "Surrender or die."

"Never!" said Deidara, and spread his arms as a wave of blue energy pulsed from his body and flung Orochimaru back. His snake caught him, and he steadied himself.

Deidara launched himself forward, running ninety degrees up the side of the snake, and threw his sword at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru dodged, but sensed something was wrong.

And as he turned, he saw Deidara's sword slashing towards his face.

He threw himself down, but he got scraped.

As Deidara jumped back onto his new bird, Orochimaru felt the cut on his face.

"You _cut_ me." said Orochimaru as the cut healed itself. "You! Who are you, to think that you are worthy to battle with me?"

"I am Deidara." he responded. "And I am not worthy. But I am fighting for someone. Do _you_ know what's worth fighting for..."

He looked Orochimaru in his slitted eyes.

"Orochimaru?"

And then, suddenly, there was a groaning noise.

Kisame slowly started to pick himself off the ground.

"You're pathetic." said Orochimaru. "I'll just put you out of your misery."

He pointed his hand at the shark-man.

"No! Don't!" yelled Deidara. But it was too late.

The snake turned into a knife and went right through Kisame's throat.

And Kisame died.

Deidara turned to his enemy, eyes blazing.

"You'll pay for that." he said. "Level... FOUR!"

A second golden circle appeared inside the first one, in his glowing eyes.

The sword grew twice the size it had been in length.

"You are getting. on. my. nerves." said Orochimaru slowly.

"DIE!" he finished, unleashing a gigantic, writhing mass of snakes at Deidara.

He slashed through many of them, but they wrapped around him, pulling him down. The snakes slammed him into the ground, tightening around the blonde and digging into the ground to keep him there.

Deidara struggled as Orochimaru walked over. He felt the snakes wrapping around his arms and legs, felt their cold tounges dart in and out as they slid all over him.

_I can't move._ he thought desperately. _I'm... I'm dead._

"Well, that was fast." said Orochimaru. "The legendary snake wasn't as strong as I thought. Too bad you couldn't learn how to use the full extent of your abilities. If you had, you'd surely have beaten me by now."

Deidara glared at him, clenching his teeth.

"Awww, is someone mad?" taunted the snake-man, leaning down. "Now, let's see. What's the most painful way to kill someone?"

He snapped his fingers. "Oh. I know."

A snake unwound itself from Deidara's arm and started slithering across him towards his face.

Another one followed, and Orochimaru laughed.

"Wait." said Deidara. His eyes widened. "You're not going to-"

The snake threw itself into Deidara's mouth and started going down his throat.

Deidara gagged and thrashed, trying to reach the snake and pull it off. But his hands were restrained.

Another snake went it.

_I'm going... to die... _he thought.

But suddenly, miraculously, a glowing, pink sword cut through the snakes, and then they dissolved and Deidara could breathe again.

He looked up to see Sakura, smiling and leaning over him. Sasuke and Itachi stood behind her.

"Defeated so easily?" she said.

"No. I was just resting." said Deidara, sitting up.

"Yeah, sure!" said Sakura.

"Why, isn't this touching." said Orochimaru sarcastically. "Well, I'm afraid I'll have to break up your little reunion."

He launched a snake, but Sakura slashed through it.

"We're going to beat you." said Sakura. "Hard."

Deidara stood up.

Sasuke and Itachi stood at Sakura and Deidara's flanks.

"Four against one." mused Orochimaru. "Well, this isn't exactly fair."

"And the way you were fighting just now was?" said Sakura.

Orochimaru chuckled darkly.

"Well, let's try it, shall we?"

Itachi and Sasuke drew their Katanas.

And then Sakura and Deidara yelled as they darted forward, swinging their swords.

Orochimaru jumped back, but suddenly Sasuke was there, behind him, and he sliced through the air with his lightning sword. It missed Orochimaru by mere millimeters, and as he dodged Itachi thrust his sword forward. Orochimaru jumped up, landing on his snake.

Everyone shot up immediately, and cut at the same time through the snake's thick skin. The snake thrashed and screeched, flinging it's rider about, but apart from some scratched was otherwise unharmed.

As Orochimaru regained his balance, storm clouds began to gather above him.

And then lightning struck, blasting stone and wood to bits.

The snake dodged it.

"Whoa." said Sakura.

"You gotta admit, on our side or not..." said Deidara. "Sasuke is one scary dude."

"Agreed." said Sakura.

And Itachi closed his eyes as droves of crows flew off of him, turning into Kunai as they flew.

"Him too." said Sakura.

"Yeah." said Deidara.

And then Sakura extended her wings and flew up.

What followed was a fierce battle that shook the ground itself.

Sasuke sent down tens of bolts of lightning, but Orochimaru swerved on his snake and sent snakes flying in all directions, knives sprouting from their mouths. Deidara and Sakura hacked through them, launching themselves at the enemy, but the snake he was on whipped it's tail up, batting Deidara away. Sakura went on and brought her sword down, slashing at Orochimaru about two times per second. And then Sasuke, eyes flashing, flew up behind him and kicked. Orochimaru ducked and grabbed Sasuke's leg, flinging him into Sakura. They tumbled off the snake. And then he turned just in time to see Deidara drawing his sword back.

Orochimaru jumped off the snake, and so did Deidara. Their swords crashed in mid air, both landing lightly on the ground, hitting it running. Sparks flew over and over and over again.

And Itachi suddenly rose from the ground, grabbing Orochimaru's ankle and tried to sink him into the earth. But Orochimaru kicked him, and Sakura took the opportunity too bring her sword down at him-

But he dodged, and followed through with a stab that Sakura only missed because suddenly Deidara was there, blocking it with a shield of energy.

The shield suddenly burst into shards, and they all flew at Orochimaru, who stepped to the side, letting them fly past him.

Great crackles of thunder sounded in the sky as it started to rain, bolts of fiery lightning falling with the rain, lighting up the darkened ledge as they slammed into the ground all around Orochimaru. He sent snakes up at Sasuke, but Sasuke merely stabbed them and fling them back down, where they landed lifeless on the stone floor.

And then Itachi tried to stab Orochimaru, and he felt something wrap around his arm-

"NO!" shouted Sasuke, and Orochimaru's eyes widened as he jumped to the side, lightning striking where he had been just moments before.

But Deidara was waiting, and he plunged his sword down-

And suddenly, just like that, Orochimaru was no longer there.

"HUH?" yelled Deidara.

"BEHIND YOU!" shouted Sasuke from the sky, descending as fast as he could.

Deidara saw out of the corner of his eye, the fangs of a snake-

But Sakura was there, hacking through it.

"THIS HAS GONE FAR ENOUGH!" roared Orochimaru, stepping back just as Sasuke landed beside the rest of the team.

And he launched himself forward, spinning his sword wildly and twirling it at everyone. Deidara clapped his hands together, catching it, and kicked Orochimaru's stomach. The blow actually made contact, but did not seem to affect the snake man.

And then, as Orochimaru stumbled back, and the sky rumbled angrily...

Sakura brought her sword down.

"You can't cut me!" shouted Orochimaru, already starting to dodge.

But suddenly, so suddenly, the sword expanded into the shape of a single, huge, cleaver-shaped wing.

And it thudded into the ground. But instead of filling with snakes to reconnect with the rest of him, overwhelmed by the power of Sakura's Bird power, it dissolved into dust.

Orochimaru screamed, and unearthly scream, and clutched the bloody stump where his arm had once been.

Sakura grinned.

But as Orochimaru turned to her, rage in his eyes, the grin dropped. She stepped back.

"YOU WILL PAAAAAY!" he howled, and grabbed his sword, flying towards her.

And at that exact same moment, lots of people flew out from the hallway.

It was... it was...

Even Orochimaru paused his attack and turned.

Naruto. Gaara. Rock Lee. Tenten. Neji. Ino. All standing defiantly before Orochimaru.

And here's what they saw.

Sasuke, Itachi, Deidara, and Sakura not dressed as Akatsuki, fighting someone that should've been dead a while ago.

There were surprised noises.

But this didn't rattle Orochimaru. In fact, it seemed to make him happier.

"What's going on?" growled Naruto. "I want answers! Why are you with them, Sakura? Why?"

"I'll tell you what's going on." said Orochimaru. "You arrived just in time to see your friend PERISH AT MY HANDS!"

Sakura started to shake.

"SAKURA!" yelled Deidara as Orochimaru brought his sword up.

It crashed into the ground as Sakura dodged. And then, she did the most logical human reaction to a situation like this one.

She ran.

And Orochimaru ran after her.

"NO!" shouted Deidara. He darted after them. Itachi and Sasuke followed.

"I DON'T GET IT!" Naruto yelled at them. "WHY ARE YOU HELPING SAKURA?"

"Because we're not Akatsuki anymore!" said Deidara. "I'll explain later! But we're on _your side_!"

"HOW DO I KNOW WE CAN TRUST YOU?" shouted Naruto, but his words were lost in the storm Sasuke had created.

And then, Orochimaru started catching up to Sakura.

"Fly, Sakura!" shouted Deidara, cupping his hands around his mouth. "FLY!"

Sakura spread her wings.

But then, suddenly, Orochimaru was on top of her. And everyone was still too far away.

He flipped her over, raising his sword.

"NO! STOP!" yelled Deidara.

"Why does he care?" said Gaara, furrowing his eyebrows. "It makes no sense."

"Because they love each other or something, I don't know!" said Sasuke. "When Deidara was in the Akatsuki, he was insane, and, well, now he isn't! He's different!"

Sakura trembled as she saw the cold, glinting iron of the sword above her. Drops of water ran down it's sides.

She squeezed her eyes shut. "DEIDARA!" she screamed.

"DIE, BIRD!" shoutes Orochimaru, forgetting all about power and thinking only of revenge...

And then Sakura screamed, blood bursting from her mouth as Orochimaru drove the sword deep into her stomach.

"N-N-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" shouted Deidara. "SAKURAAAA!"

Seeing the ninja getting closer, and knowing some of them could heal Sakura, Orochimaru got off Sakura and stepped to the side.

And then he conjured a giant snake in mid-air.

It fell through the air, and landed on Sakura.

Crushing her.

Deidara screamed, and started to shake wildly and glow.

"STOP!" yelled Itachi. "CONTROL YOURSELF! SHE MIGHT STILL BE ALIVE!"

"Sakura's strong." said Sasuke. "Fight for her."

Deidara nodded.

"SAKURA!" yelled Naruto, seeing what happened. "YOU... YOU SICK PERSON!"

Orochimaru snickered.

"LEVEL FIVE!" shouted Deidara, and then his eyes glowed completely gold and his sword grew into a huge, monsterous thing, full of jagged spikes and glowing marbles.

"Hey! Where'd his birds go?" said Rock Lee.

"You really are slow, aren't you." muttered Sasuke.

But Deidara, blinded and deafened by rage, ran for Orochimaru.

Their swords clashed.

Orochimaru's eyes widened. He was stronger now. Definitely stronger.

"If Sakura is dead..." hissed Deidara. "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"I thought you w-were going to kill me anyway." said Orochimaru.

But Deidara heard the hesitation, and narrowed his eyes.

"You're already dead." he said, and brought his sword up.

Meanwhile, all the others lifted the snake off Sakura.

She was splayed on the stone, limbs askew at strange angles.

But she was breathing.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" yelled Naruto.

Deidara's soul flared up with hope.

"Let's go!" said Gaara, and they ran for the hallway from which they had come, but suddenly snakes slammed into it and it collapsed.

"NO ONE LEAVES UNTIL THIS BATTLE IS OVER!" roared Orichimaru.

Gaara leaned over Sakura, trying some healing techniques. It wasn't working.

Sasuke tried to go forward to fight, but Itachi held out his arm, blocking him.

"Huh? Itachi?" said Sasuke. "But... but why?"

"He is the only one anywhere near Orochimaru's power level. And his power level is rising still. Believe me, you would just get in the way. Right now, he is strong enough than all of us combined.

"Wh-what?" said Ino. "But... how?"

"He's the descendant of the Spider in that old legend." said Itachi. "Or something like that. But the question is, can he learn to use the power in time?"

Naruto turned to Sasuke. "You better explain all this, right now!" he growled. "Or I'll... I'll...!"

"Why wouldn't I?" said Sasuke.

"Because you left us!" said Naruto. "When you wanted to..."

hHs eyes drifted over to Itachi.

"Kill... Itachi." he said. "Wait. Why haven't you... he's RIGHT THERE...!"

Sakura muttered something in her sleep, and started breathing fast

"What do we do? She's dying!" yelled Ino.

"We can only wait now." said Neji.

He turned just in time to see Deidara and Orochimaru fly at each other.

"Deidara... is our only hope."

"Start explaining. Now." growled Naruto. Gaara laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Keep an open mind." he whispered into his ear.

Naruto breathed deeply, calming himself.

And behind them, the battle was just beginning.

Sakura lay on the floor, covered in blood. It was coming out of her mouth, nose, stomach, and gashes all over her body.

"Deidara... Deidara, help... me..." she panted, sobbing. "Hold... me... please..."


	16. Bound

**Author's Note: Okay, for the first time, I'm writing the Author's note BEFORE I write the chapter. I'll include another one at the end. **

***Gulp*... well... this will be a hard chapter to write. It will be very long as well. Wish me luck, pleeease!  
>Here I go...!<strong>

Chapter Sixteen

There was a clash as the swords met in mid-air.

Lightning crackled from the storm brewing in the sky as the two fighting people pushed their swords harder and harder, making sparks fly.

Orochimaru's slick black hair waved in strands, like tentacles, all over his face. His eyes were the eyes of a madman, wide open and crazed.

"YOU KNOW WHAT?" he shouted as the rain started to fall from the dark clouds Sasuke had made in the sky. "I'LL JUST KILL YOU AND TAKE THE OTHER'S POWERS! What difference will it make?"

With one final push, they both launched in opposite directions, skidding to a stop with one hand on the stone.

Deidara got to his feet, gritting his teeth.

_Great._ he thought angrily. _Now... I've lost my advantage! He'll unleash his full power. What'll I do?_

And then he looked over and saw the ninja who'd arrived huddled at the edge of the huge balcony. Sitting helplessly, relying on him.

_They need me._ thought Deidara, turning back to the waiting Orochimaru who stood, lightning crackling and gathering in his hands. _So I will win. Even if it's the last thing I do!_

And with that thought, he launched himself at the merciless snake.

Orochimaru laughed as Deidara's sword clashed with his. Deidara strained and grunted, pushing the sword back, but Orochimaru stood on his snake smiling and unfazed.

Deidara launched a kick which Orochimaru blocked, following through with a punch. Deidara ducked, and as the punch flew over him, he grabbed Orochimaru's remaining hand and twisted-

But suddenly, a kick swung at his face, and he tumbled off the snake. And then, there was a bird beneath him, and he landed on it before speeding upwards, towards the darkening sky, towards Orochimaru.

A cascade of snakes rained down, mouths agape with protruding fangs. Deidara expanded a ball of bright blue energy around him, but it started to crack as many, many snakes thudded onto it.

Orochimaru looked up as Deidara flew above the snake, up into the clouds, and watched as he pointed his sword and fell into a nosedive. Deidara's determined, furious face slowly came into focus as he neared.

"FOOL!" shouted Orochimaru, and the entire giant snake he was on dodged to the side. Deidara plummeted down beside it, but immediately pulled out of the dive and started to rise again.

But this time, suddenly, Orochimaru abandoned his snake, jumping off of it and spreading his arms. And from his sleeves shot tens of wiggling snakes, hungrily darting towards Deidara. The sheer number of snakes was so large, and the area the covered so extensive that Deidara couldn't dodge.

He dove back down, and Orochimaru smiled, landing on the ground as his giant snake dissovled behind him, the dust dissolving into the air, readying for some other use.

But Deidara didn't land, just skimmed the ground with his sword, and when he had gone a fair distance and the snakes were almost on him, he turned...

And spikes of stone rose glowing from the ground, and impaled each and every snake that rained down from the sky.

Orochimaru's smile slowly turned into an annoyed expression. But Deidara stood tall on his bird, hatred brewing in him, as rain started to fall. The wind picked up, blowing his torn clothing and shimmering ponytail behind him.

"Wow!" said Rock Lee. "Is... is all this true, all you just said? Can it be?"

Itachi and Sasuke nodded, finished explaining.

"Uh... Sasuke?" said Ino. "Could you... y'know... turn off the storm? It might decrease Deidara's chances of defeating Orochimaru!"

"I can't." said Sasuke regretfully, gazing up at the rumbling sky. "I have no control over it any longer."

Naruto gritted his teeth."I still don't really trust him."

"Well!" said Orochimaru. "This looks like it will be a fun battle."

Deidara narrowed his eyes. "I'm fighting for Sakura and the rest of the people who have helped me. No one else. And not for the 'fun', as you put it."

Orochimaru chuckled. "That's what I love about you ninjas..."

He jumped into the air.

"ALWAYS SO NOBLE BEFORE YOU DIE!" he screeched, and brought his sword down. Deidara rolled to the side and kicked up, flipping over. Orochimaru leaned back, the kick passing over his face, and grabbed the leg. Orochimaru flipped Deidara over, but Deidara still had his sword and he aimed it between his legs at Orochimaru's stomach. Before it could cut into him, though, the snake-like man flung Deidara away. Deidara stabbed his sword into the ground before he could tumble away even further, and spun around it, pulling it out as he ran at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's hair streamed out beside him, shimmering, as the wind picked up. But the moment that Deidara sliced at him again, he disappeared.

_ A clone!_ thought Deidara, tensing. _But where..._

And then he was suddenly dropping from the sky.

Deidara flew to the side, jumping on his bird again, but a lone snake bit him on his chest, thrashing as it cut all the way down.

He felt the poison spreading, numbing his body, and Orochimaru grinned.

But then Deidara brought his sword to his chest, and breathed deeply.

And rays of blue light shone, and the poison evaporated from inside his body, out through his skin and into the air.

"Orochimaru." said Deidara. "I have the power to purge your poison from your body. You're underestimating me! Be careful... I might just kill you soon."

"Talk is cheap, boy." said Orochimaru, but he was a little shaken by the display.

Deidara looked down at the blood dripping from him and felt woozy.

_No! I can't lose!_ he thought.

"Level six!" he said.

Nothing happened.

_Darn... it's getting harder to get stronger. _he thought.

"Ha! Looks like this is as far as you can go." said Orochimaru. His tounge flicked in and out, and then a thick wall of snakes barrelled from him.

Deidara quickly urged his bird up, and it flew up, up into the sky. He looked down and saw what looked like hundreds of snakes going after him.

He stuck his hand in his pocket.

_Please, please, PLEASE work now! _he thought. _I need my birds. NOW._

But as the bird swerved, trying to lose the snakes biting the air behind it, the hand just spit the clay back out again. And then, he got it. His eyes widened.

He grabbed his sword's hilt... And the mouths on his hands bit into it.

Instantly, what looked like glowing blue clay spurted out of the end of the sword. Deidara pointed it at his pouch, and the pouch filled with the material. And this time, as he put his hand in his pocket, the mouth chewed.

And Deidara flung two small birds at the snakes following him. The two birds turned huge and glowing, with strange runes inscribed all over them. And these birds had spider legs.

Orochimaru's pale, marble-like face twisted in confusion. "What the-?"

The world suddenly turned white, and everyone looked away as the biggest explosion anyone present had ever witnessed lit up the fading day, stretching shadows over the startling white light.

And when the smoke cleared, the hundreds of snakes were gone. Only Deidara remained on his bird, standing defiantly.

That's when Sakura opened her eyes,

"She's aw-w-wake!" said Tenten, still spooked from the explosion.

"Deidara..." she whispered hoarsely. "Where... is... Deidara?"

Naruto looked down at her, annoyed. "Why do you want to know?"

But Gaara pushed Naruto aside and gently turned Sakura's head.

She saw Deidara standing in the midst of the the smoke he'd created, and smiled.

_Win, Deidara... we're all counting on you_. she thought. _I'm counting on you._

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, a shadow falling over his expression.

And without saying another word, he conjured his snake again and stepped onto it.

"Not so confident now," said Deidara. "Are you, Orochimaru?"

And the giant snake suddenly lunged, and Orochimaru leapt from it, launching himself at Deidara with a speed not humanly possible-

But quicker that Orochimaru could even see, he swerved and swung his sword. Orochimaru grabbed the sword with his bare hands, and shoved it towards Deidara. He lost his balance and fell off his bird, but it caught him as he fell, and he flew at Orochimaru, who was on his snake, from below.

And Orochimaru let his snake fall. It hit Deidara, but the blonde ditched the bird and climbed onto the snake-

Which was a big mistake.

Orochimaru breathed in and spit a stream of brown snakes that flew into Deidara.

And he fell.

Sakura shrieked and blood spurted from her wounds with the movement of her lungs.

"Stop!" said Ino. "Sakura, stop! You're hurting yourself!"

A bird, glowing blue, suddenly billowed up beneath Deidara and he flipped, landing on it lightly as it shot back up towards Orochimaru. He pulled the snakes off himself and dropped them from the sky. They turned to dust before they hit the ground.

But then, another relentless wave of snakes came at him, and-

"LEVEL SIX!" shouted Deidara, and his sword split into daggers once more. But they glowed even more fiercly and brightly now. He stretched out his hand, and the dagger in it glowed as a great, big ball of energy was discharged and flew at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru ducked, and then his giant snake threw itself at Deidara, knocking one of the wings off his bird.

Deidara's eyes widened as his bird plummeted, spiralling towards the ground.

Orochimaru leapt off his snake and followed, sword glinting as he prepared to slice down into the body of the teenager on the hopelessly falling bird-

But then, lightning struck Orochimaru's sword and electricity ran through his body, interrupting his movements as Deidara tumbled onto the ground and rolled a little before stopping.

Sasuke stood, the wounds inflicted by Kisame on his stomach stinging. But he'd felt worse pain before.

"You...!" said Orochimaru.

"Sasuke, run!" shouted Deidara, picking himself up. A big scratch on his forehead bled, the blood running down his face.

"No!" said Sasuke. "I will never run! Not from a coward like this."

"Okay, have it your way!" said Orochimaru, and Sasuke jumped into the air, his sword crackling with summoned lightning. But as he flew at Orochimaru, the snake-man grabbed his throat and squeezed, making Sasuke drop his katana. It impaled itself in the ground.

"NO! SASUKE!" shouted Itachi, starting to stand.

Deidara ran towards Orochimaru just as he slid the straight through Sasuke.

Sasuke trembled and looked down slowly as the blood spread on his shirt.

Orochimaru pushed Sasuke off the sword with his foot and kicked him towards the shocked ninjas waiting for the battle's end. He rolled towards them, leaving a trail of blood.

"You can have this." he said, and then he turned to see Deidara rushing towards him, daggers huge and spiked.

Deidara thrust his dagger at Orochimaru, who parried it quickly with his sword. He followed the parry with another strike, and Deidara blocked it with his other dagger.

Sakura watched in horror, watching Deidara get more and more bloodstained and beat-up.

And then, it came to her.

_Wait a minute._ she thought. _I can... I can heal myself!  
><em>Glowing pink daggers appeared in her hands, and she held them up to her chest. her wounds glowed pink and closed as the rest of the ninja watched in wonder.

She got up and ran to Sasuke, the life bleeding out of him with every passing minute. She held the tip of one dagger over his chest, and it started to heal.

Sasuke looked up at Sakura, concentrating as sweat beaded up on her forehead.

"That... you..." he said, before passing out from blood loss.

At that exact same moment, Orochimaru launched himself at Deidara.

Deidara ducked, and Orochimaru flew over him, spun, and kicked him in the head. But when Deidara turned to stab Orochimaru, he hadn't noticed that he was so, so close...

And Orochimaru launced a mouthful of snakes at him, and they crashed into him. Deidara saw stars explode behind his eyelids, and he fell onto the stone floor.

Orochimaru stood above him, craving bloodshed, and he raised his sword above Deidara's chest-

**CLANK**

It was...

"Sakura?" said Deidara in disbelief.

"Get up, hurry!" she said, trying to hold back Orochimaru's blade. It pushed her pink daggers towards her, arms trembling with exertion.

Deidara got up to strike Orochimaru, but suddenly, Orochimaru got a better idea. He pulled Sakura's daggers towards himself, and grabbed her, jumping onto a giant snake that he spun out of thin air.

"SAKURA!" shouted Deidara, as the snake got higher and higher. Sakura screamed and thrashed, trying to bite her captor, but Orochimaru pulled her daggers away from her and dropped them. They spun as they fell towards the ground.

Orochimaru quickly grabbed some rope from his pocket and pressed Sakura onto himself, her front side against him with her face pressed against his chest. He lashing her to his body using the thick rope. His current body was so tall, that she was the same size as his torso.

Sakura couldn't move. Her arms were tied by her sides.

Orochimaru was cold and hard as marble, far from Deidara's warm, soft touch, and she shivered.

"HEY! DEIDARA!" called Orochimaru, lowering his snake so Deidara could see him. "Don't even think of trying to stab me now... because you'll have to go through her first!" He tied Sakura's feet together behind his back so her legs wouldn't get in the way.

"Let me go!" yelled Sakura, looking up at Orochimaru with tears in her eyes. But all Orochimaru did in response was hold his sword up to the back of her neck.

"Try anything, do anything that looks suspicious, and you're dead." he hissed in her ear. "Got it?"

Sakura nodded, feeling the steel on her neck lift away.

And then she screamed into Orochimaru's chest as he leaped into the air, hair flying behind him in the wind.

Deidara stepped back holding his daggers, unsure on what to do.

_Okay._ he thought. _Now that he's realized that I have the power to cut him and make him turn to ashes... he's taken Sakura. So the only method possible for killing him would be stabbing him in the back. But how'll I do that if he's always facing me? And even worse, what if he goes for one of the others so he can use him as a shield for his back?_

_ What in the world am I supposed to do now?_

Orochimaru landed on the ground, Sakura shaking wildly.

"P-p-please... l-let me go!" she cried.

"What're you so afraid of?" laughed Orochimaru, smiling cruelly. "Your friend here would never run a sword through you. Or is it me you're afraid of, little girl?" He threw his head back and laughed, shadows stretching across his pale face.

Sakura started to try to pull away, thrashing, but then she felt a sword nick her throat, and she was still.

This was too much for Deidara. "You're... you're SICK!" he shouted at Orochimaru. "A human shield? Have you really sunk this low?"

"Yes. Yes, I have." said Orochimaru. "Now... weren't you going to kill me?"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the balcony... well, Deidara wasn't the only one engraged.

"I'll KILL HIM!" yelled Naruto, throwing himself forward. Gaara grabbed his shoulders and pulled him back.

"Let me go, Gaara! Now!" he said. His eyes started to shift...

Ino came forward and slapped him. Naruto cowered, his cheek smarting.

"CONTROL YOURSELF!" she shouted. Naruto turned in shame.

All eyes turned to the battle.

_He's... he's not going to kill Sakura, is he? _thought Sasuke, who'd just regained consciousness.

"He won't." said Itachi, and Sasuke turned in surprise.

"I can't read minds, but I know what you're thinking." said Itachi.

Sasuke nodded and lay back down, feeling his strength draining out of him.

Deidara launched himseld at Orochimaru. Sakura turned her head, and saw Deidara with his sword drawn and pointed forward, leaping at her-

But then he jumped, and tried to slice through Orochimaru's head. Orochimaru stepped to the side, and turned to face Deidara.

"Come on, Deidara." he taunted, leaping onto his giant snake as it carried him up. "You're not giving up, are you? Please keep fighting. It makes everything SO much more fun!"

Deidara clenched his teeth and tried to run around Orochimaru to face his back, But Orochimaru just kept turning. It was pathetic, like a dog chasing it's own tail. Deidara screeched to a stop, panting without even have thrown a single blow.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" laughed Orochimaru, seeing Deidara's eyes burning with hatred. "Why don't I play with the little girl a bit? Cut off some fingers, maybe. Or suffocate her. Or, I could just do THIS!"

Snakes wove around Orochimaru and around Sakura, and started squeezing her, getting tighter and tighter every time-

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Sakura as they crushed her. "Can't... breathe-!"

The snakes slithered off, leaving Sakura panting, breathing in Orochimaru's smell of blood and death.

Deidara stepped forward, shaking with rage. "STOP THAT!" he shouted.

"Make me, BOY!" shouted Orochimaru from his perch on his snake's head. He laughed darkly, tracing his cold fingers down the side of Sakura's head.

And that's when Sakura really freaked out.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" she shouted, squirming. "LET GO OF ME! LET GO! LET GO!"

_I'm going to die, I'm GOING TO DIE! I'M TIED TO A SADISTIC MURDERED, I'M GOING TO DIE! _she thought frantically.

"DEIDARAAA!" she sobbed. "Deidara, help me, please! PLEEEEEEEASE!"

"Deidara, Deidara, help me! Please!" mimicked Orochimaru in a high pitched voice.

"That's IT! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" shouted Diedara, and jumped on a bird. It carried him at breakneck speed up the snake, where Orochimaru was standing. Orochimaru opened his mouth as soon as Deidara appeared over the side of the snake, and many snakes shot out. One of them dropped onto Sakura's shoulder, and she screamed.

"You scream too much." said Orochimaru, dodging Deidara's lunges with his daggers, aimed at his back, with an expression on his face that was almost bored.

Deidara held up his daggers, and the whole landscape trembled. And then, chunks of rock rose from to ground, big ones and small ones, and they all hurled themselves at Orochimaru's back.

He managed to dodge most of them, but one of them hit him, and he fell off the snake. It wasn't too far from the ground, but the ground was stone so he made sure to land on his stomach. Namely, on Sakura.

Sakura hit the ground under Orochimaru and cried out as light exploded behind her eyelids. She felt dizzy, and tried to focus her eyes. She couldn't.

Orochimaru cackled suddenly, getting a new idea.

_This'll REALLY tick him off. Make things more interesting. _he thought, smirking.

He grabbed Sakura's head and forced her mouth open, tilting it upwards. And then, he opened his mouth and let a single, long white snake out of it fall down her throat.

Sakura tried to scream, but she couldn't talk. She couldn't breathe. She was choking, dying. The world started to go black.

But suddenly, Sakura felt a jolt and the snake dissolved. She gagged and coughed.

Itachi had his sword resting on Orochimaru's back.

"Don't move. Move and you're dead." he said, his eyes narrowing as he remembered what the snake-man had done to Sasuke.

But suddenly, Orochimaru elongated himself, snake-like, and turned 180 degrees, hissing and darting his fangs at Itachi.

Itachi jumped back, Orochimaru's teeth snapping where he had been only moments before.

He wrapped himself around Sakura, getting longer and longer, covering her, binding her to him completely. The last to be covered was her head. She sobbed and thrashed, trying to get free, but then Orochimaru wrapped his long, snake body around her eyes. She managed to turn, ant the last Deidara saw of her was her small mouth, framed by pink, rosy, lips, taking a last shuddering breath before a snake wrapped itself around her.

The rest of Orochimaru's body thickened as well, the coils melting into solid muscle and skin, until Sakura was completely encased in Orochimaru's body, leaving no bulge to indicate where she was.

"LET GO OF HER!" shouted Deidara, turning his daggers into a huge, gleaming sword.

"Oh, don't worry." said Orochimaru. "She can breathe."

A cruel grin curled around his thin lips.

"But just barely."

Inside Orochimaru, Sakura took in fast, strained breaths. She felt his body pulsing around her, and screamed, crying for help. But no one could hear her, and Sakura was alone in the darkness, feeling the walls of flesh tighten around her as tears streamed down her face.

"Now, you don't know where she is." said Orochimaru. "Stab any part of me, an you risk running her through."

And Deidara knew that there was only one thing he could do to defeat his enemy. Cut him in the one place that Sakura couldn't possibly be in.

Orochimaru's head.

With renewed courage, Deidara jumped forward, and Orochimaru rose to meet him.

And the battle continued late into the night.

**xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

**Ending Author's Note: Well, there you go! That was a little disturbing, wasn't it? Ah, well, MORE than a little disturbing. Wow, this story has more chapters than I thought it would have! I think this is the longest chapter. By the way, for those of you that will comment on this... Orochimaru only wants Sakura AS A HUMAN SHIELD. NOT for anything else! This fanfiction WILL remain T rated. I know some of you will be thinking about that, so I'm just assuring you! ANYWAY PLEASE REVIEW PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW I SPENT AGES ON THIS CHAPTER!**

**P.S... By the way... I was thinking... should I give my chapters names? What do you think? Do names on chapters make you want to read a fanfiction more? Tell me!**


	17. Stairs

**Author's Note: This chapter took me TWO days! SARCASTIC GASP!  
>Anyway... IT TOOK ME AGES. Enjoy, read, review PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE!<br>Oh, and a HUGE thank you to **.x, **who left an AWESOME review... thank you so much!**

**P.S... WOW THIS CHAPTER IS EXTREMELY LONG!**

**PPS... if anyone's noticed, I'm slowly naming all my chapters... tell me what you think!**

Chapter Seventeen

Deidara panted heavily, drenched in blood. But Orochimaru just stood, barely scratched, on his giant snake.

"Are you running out of steam, boy?" said Orochimaru, smiling.

Naruto watched with the rest of the Ninja from the side.

"That's it, I need to help him!" growled Naruto.

"That wouldn't be a very good idea." said Neji.

"And why not, huh?" said Naruto, glaring at Neji. "I could easily finish him off with the chakra of the nine-tailed-"

"As I said, that wouldn't be a very good idea, Naruto." said Neji.

All the others turned, curious, to hear. "And why wouldn't it be?" asked Rock Lee. "He could just run in, defeat Orochimaru, and-"

"Do you have any idea what power level they're both on right now?" Neji said. "Fools. Didn't you notice that _Sasuke couldn't defeat him?_"

Their eyes turned to Sasuke, lying on the ground twitching as Itachi hung over him with a worried expression.

"Y-yeah, I guess that was strange." said Tenten.

"That's because right now their power levels are each about... oh, let's say ten times your Sensei's, Kakashi."

"Wh-WHAT?" Naruto yelled in disbelief. "That's impossible!"

"And Deidara can do so, so much more... more then ten times any of the beasts within the Jinchuriki. His raw power cannot be counted. And Sakura's, too. And Sasuke's."

"Then... why haven't any of them defeated Orochimaru?" said Ino, waving her hands in the air. "If they're sooo powerful, why don't they just-"

"Didn't you hear me? Right now they're both about ten times Kakashi. They don't know how to tap into their full power. Every time Deidara goes to a new level, he goes up a notch. But he's just scratching the surface." said Neji.

"All we can do now is wait, then." said Gaara, turning towards the battle. Neji nodded.

"But it's been about three hours since Orochimaru grabbed Sakura!" said Ino. "Haven't we been waiting long enough?"

No one answered. No one knew what to say.

Deidara looked up at Orochimaru, wiping blood away from his mouth.

"You're so weak." said Orochimaru. "I honestly though that you'd be stronger than this. What a boring fight. Honestly."

Deidara gritted his teeth, whipping out his daggers once more. "I will defeat you, no matter what!"

"I seriously doubt that." scoffed Orochimaru. "It's been hours. You've done _nothing_. You hear me, boy? Nothing."

_How can it be? _thought Deidara. _I though I was supposed to be strong! It's not like I don't have a reason to win... so why? Why aren't I strong enough?_

"Well, seeing as this battle won't go anywhere... let's make it interesting." said Orochimaru, grinning as he started to uncoil. Deidara's eyes narrowed.

"Don't you DARE hurt her, Orochimaru!" he shouted, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.

And then Sakura tumbled from the expanding coils of Orochimaru's body.

She was pale as paper, shaking like a thin leaf in the wind. When Orochimaru reached for her, she didn't react, just stared straight ahead with a blank look on her face. But when Orochimaru grabbed her collar and lifted her into the air, she blinked and tears ran down her cheeks.

"No... no... no..." she whimpered.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER?" shouted Deidara, enraged. His daggers started to glow blue, then suddenly faded to gold...

"Less than I'll do to her now." said Orochimaru. He held her up as the lightning behind them crackled explosively.

And then the giant snake he was on turned it's mouth up, and Orochimaru walked up the side, dangling Sakura over the it's mouth.

Sakura looked down, seeing the gaping mouth below her with the snake's eager tounge swaying as it emitted a hiss. The snake's teeth shone below her.

_Just let it... be over..._ she thought, as Orochimaru flipped her upside down.

Deidara gasped and ran forward as Orochimaru dropped Sakura straight down into the giant snake's mouth headfirst. Sakura felt the snake's thick, hot, rubbery throat tighten and pulse around her as the mouth clamped shut. She slid further down, realizing she couldn't breathe. She tried to scream, to cry out, but the snake was crushing her slowly to death.

But just as she was about to suffocate to death in the darkness...

The mouth of the snake swung open, a hand reaching down. A very familiar hand, in fact...

_Could it be? _thought Sakura, a wild hope breaking free in her chest. She tried to reach up, but couldn't. Her arms were stuck. But another hand reached down and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her up with an immense yet gentle straight, out of the snake. And then she saw Deidara's face.

Sobbing with relief and joy and all the trauma, she buried her head in Deidara's shoulder.

"It's okay now." he said. "It'll be okay."

And then he raised his sword and slice straight down the middle of the snake. As he hit the ground, it dissolved behind him.

"You... you only knocked me off by chance!" shouted Orochimaru. "I will beat you now!"

And he drew his sword out of it's sheath.

"I don't think so." said Deidara. "Level... EIGHT!"

Neji's eyes flew open and he crumpled to the ground, trembling.

"Neji!" shouted Tenten, shaking him. "Neji, what's wrong?"

Neji lay gasping on the stone.

"Okay... okay, NOW he's using all of his power." he said before passing out.

"He was monitoring their power levels... it must have overwhelmed him." said Gaara.

Sasuke opened his eyes.

"What..." he muttered, sitting up.

"You probably shouldn't sit up." said Itachi. "The-"

But Sasuke ignored him. "Who's... who's power is that?" he asked in wonder.

Gaara pointed at Deidara.

Sasuke looked at Deidara, then back at Gaara. Then back at Deidara.

"Wake me up when he's finished killing Orochimaru." said Sasuke, and slumped onto the stone floor.

A funnel shot down from the storm clouds in the sky, swirling around Deidara. His eyes turned completely gold, and the blood running through his veins glowed golden as well, making it visible through his skin. It was raining, but no rain fell on them.

Orochimaru shielded his eyes and looked at the funnel blocking Deidara from view.

"YOU CAN'T HIDE FOREVER!" he shouted, and flung a couple of snakes at it. The snakes were ripped to pieces before they even touched the funnel. Orochimaru stepped back, eyes widening.

"What's this?" he said angrily.

Inside the funnel, Deidara's sword turned into a huge, golden sword, shining all over with blue-tinted diamonds. It was about twice his size, and jagged.

Sakura looked up at Deidara's face. He showed no emotion, because his eyes were completely overtaken by the golden glow.

"Deidara?" she whispered meekly.

"Sakura." he said, looking down. The light even shone through his mouth as he talked. "I can't leave you here, Orochimaru might try and take you again. Hold onto me as tight as you can. And whatever you do, don't let go. Okay?"

Sakura nodded, but she still shook.

"I'm afraid." she whispered, wrapping her arms and legs around Deidara, preparing to hold on tight if he started to fly or something.

"Don't worry, Sakura. I will protect you. Nothing can stop me now." said Deidara.

Sakura dug her fingernails into her hands behind his neck. "I'm ready." she said.

And then, the funnel blew away, taking a few trees here and there with it.

Orochimaru saw the transformed blond. "Well, well. A new light show."

"You'll regret that you ever tried to hurt Sakura. You'll regret it." said Deidara.

And then he launched himself at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru leaned over and let loose a stream of snakes, but Deidara's golden sword slashed through every single one of them before they even hit him. They were scraps dissolving into dust before they hit the ground.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

Deidara kept running, and thrust his sword at the snake-man. Orochimaru dodged, but the sword scraped his cheek, and this time, he couldn't heal the wound.

"It's poison." said Deidara, as he reached out with strands of golden energy that tossed his sword back into his hand. "Now, when you're cut... you'll stay cut."

"You...!" said Orochimaru. "No matter! I will just beat you anyway!"

Deidara's response was raising his palm to face Orochimaru.

Instantly, chunks of earth split into foot-long spikes and hurled themselves at Orochimaru. Orochimaru dodged most of them, running to the side, but he couldn't fly and stumbled as one of them pierced his leg and the other rammed into his arm.

He hissed in pain, turning to Deidara and unleashing snakes from his sleeve. But Deidara just slashed quickly, so quickly that his sword was a golden blur as he cut the snakes to pieces.

And then he leapt at Orochimaru, and their swords clashed as Deidara drove him into the stone wall just outside the hallway.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's sword shattered into fragments that glinted as they clattered onto the wet ground.

"HOW?" shouted Orochimaru, looking at the teenager standing before him. Deidara had little streams of water flowing down his face and his sword, washing away all the blood that had coated him. Sakura looked up at the sky over Deidara's shoulder, at the moon peeking through the boiling, black clouds.

"Because a real, genuine desire to help is stronger than the hunger for power." said Deidara. "You've lost. Leave now, and never come back. If you hurt anyone, I will come for you."

"Me? Accept mercy from YOU?" laughed Orochimaru, his pale face looking demonic in the light of the moon that now shone, half hidden by the clouds. "I'll kill you! And I'll kill the little girl clinging to you as well! DIE, FOO-"

He looked down and saw a sword through his stomach.

And Orochimaru collapsed upon the ground.

The ninja at the side cheered and clapped, and Deidara set Sakura back down.

"Reset." he murmured, and he stopped glowing.

"Deidara!" shouted Sakura in joy, and hugged him, laughing and crying all at once. "You did it! We're safe! Safe!"

Deidara smiled and hugged Sakura as she buried her head in his shoulder, pink hair tickling his neck.

"Sakura... you're safe. That's all that matters to me. And I... I..." said Deidara. Sakura looked up at him, tears in her eyes...

And saw his eyes widen.

"Deidara?" she said.

And he slumped into her arms.

Sakura saw the knife sticking out of his back.

"Such a touching scene." said a voice.

It was Orochimaru's true form.

Sakura shook, staring as blood spread on Deidara's clothes, and laid him on the ground.

She started to glow pink.

"I think I'll be taking that body of yours now." said Orochimaru. "You must have power satisfying enough to quench my thirst.

The group of ninja at the side stared in shock.

"Deidara... is he...?" said TenTen.

"His power is gone completely." said Neji, who had gained concsiousness just minutes before. "In short... yes."

"And Sakura doesn't know that." said Naruto.

They were silent.

Sakura shook with rage.

"I'LL KILL YOOOOOOOOOOOU!" she howled, and raised her arms.

"I think I'll kill you FIRST!" said Orochimaru, his snake-like body darting towards her.

But Sakura her dagger in a semi-circle, and the ground in front of her exploded, hurling Orochimaru back. He coiled to strike again... and stopped.

"ANCESTORS!" she cried to the sky. "LEND ME THE POWER TO DESTROY THIS MONSTER!"

And then she screamed as a sensation rushed into her, a feeling like no other.

Sasuke arched, shouting out a stream of nonsensical babble.

"SASUKE!" said Itachi. Everyone gathered around him.

And then Sakura and Sasuke went limp at the same time.

A swirling twister shot down from the sky, blasting stone all over the place.

Light shone through the dust that slowly blew away with the wind. Thunder rumbled in the sky.

And three people stood in the midst of the dust.

A girl with long, pink hair spun into a thick braid, wings arced high behind her back. A boy, with black spiky hair tied back into a ponytail, his limbs coated with scales. And a boy with yellow, choppy hair sprouting spider legs.

"We have been summoned to destroy you." they said together, their eyes starting to glow as they drew long, rust daggers from their belts.

"It's... it's them." said Tenten in awe. "The Bird, the Spider, and the Snake."

"N-no!" said Orochimaru in his true form, shying back. "IT CAN'T BE!"

The three stepped forward and blasted him with light.

"AAAAGH! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" howled Orochimaru, as he crumbled into dust.

And then the three blew away in swirls of mist.

Sakura jolted awake and remembered what had happened. Orochimaru...

All the ninja stood and walked up to her.

"Orochimaru is dead." said Gaara, helping her up.

Sakura nodded. And then... she remembered, her eyes flying wide open.

"DEIDARAAA!" she shouted, running towards his crumpled form on the ground. All the other ninja gathered around as she kneeled next to his broken body.

"Sakura... I'm... I'm sorry." said Naruto.

She looked up at him with tearful eyes. "No... he's not dead! HE'S NOT DEAD!" she said, and leaned over him, shaking his shoulders. "Wake up, Deidara!" she said. "Wake up, the battle's over, we won... wake up..."

She fell over him and sobbed. "You said you'd protect me!" she cried. "You can't protect me if you're dead! Come back..."

She threw back her head and screamed towards the heavens.

"COME BAAAA-AAAA-ACK...!"

She broke down, sobbing, over the shell of the only person that had truly loved her as much as she'd loved him.

Sakura laid her head on his chest, still warm but missing the vital sound of a beating heart. Gone.

She would never be able to race with him again, shout at him when he annoyed her... she'd never again be able to jump at him, wrap herself around him and feel his warmth, his compassion flooding her. He'd understood her. He'd loved her.

And she'd loved him too.

Sakura kneeled and looked into the expressionless face before her, blonde hair splayed in all directions. She reached for his hair tie, cracked but still useable, and arranged his hair into a ponytail. When she was done, she just looked at him, crying and shaking, cradling him in her arms.

Some of the Ninja behind the two started crying.

"Sakura..." said Naruto, reaching his hand out.

"Be quiet." she whispered. "I just need... a little time."

But as she said that, a fresh wave of sadness and tears crashed over her, because she knew that time would never be able to heal the hole in her heart that Deidara had taken with him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara saw light, streaming down from all directions. He spread his arms, letting it soak in. It felt amazing, and he opened his eyes.

All he could see was white, an endless expanse of white, with a ceiling of fluffy, perfect clouds. At least... he thought it was the ceiling. There was no up, or down, nor sideways.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, standing on what he presumed to be the ground. But there was no shadow in this strange word, so no corners were visible.

Deidara looked down, and saw that he was wearing a simple white shapeless robe. When he reached up to his head and felt his hair, he found it clean and loose, the strands draped across his shoulders and down his back.

"Hello?" he asked. "Is anyone there?"

He thought back. _What just happened?_

And then he remembered. "Am I... dead?" he asked himself.

"Hello, Deidara." said a voice. Deidara turned, still feeling loose and light-headed.

There, in a small circle of clouds, stood an old, old woman.

"Wait a minute..." said Deidara in awe. "Aren't you... you're...!"

"Hello, child." said the woman.

"You have pink hair!" he blurted out.

"So I so." she responded, rising. The circle of clouds walked with her as she approached Deidara.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"Nowhere. Not yet, anyway." said the woman.

"And... who exactly are you?" Deidara said nervously.

"What ever do you mean?" the old woman replied, looking at her nails.

"Your hair." said Deidara. "I'd recognize that shade of hair anywhere. It's Sakura's. And old ladies are supposed to have gray hair. So who and what exactly are you?"

"I appeared before Orochimaru in my younger form... but of course, that was after you left. I am the Bird."

"After I left? Left where?" said Deidara, tilting his head.

"The world of the living." said the Bird.

"So... I'm dead?" asked Deidara.

The old lady strode off in a different direction.

"Answer me!" Deidara yelled after her.

"Follow me." said the old woman.

Deidara reluctantly walked after her.

"Why you?" he asked.

She didn't say a word.

Deidara looked all around him, and saw that the ceiling of clouds got lower the more they walked in the direction they were going, whichever direction that might have been.

And then, the Bird stopped and Deidara bumped into her, stumbling back.

"We're here." she said.

Deidara raised his eyes and saw a flight of glistening diamond stairs leading up to a small opening in the clouds.

"What's going on? What's with the shiny stairs?" asked Deidara. "And why aren't you explaining anything?"

"Up there," said the Bird, "are all the people in the family of the Spider who have died. They cannot move on."

"Move on? Move on to where?" he asked.

The Bird didn't answer.

Deidara's eyes narrowed. "See, that's REALLY starting to tick me-"

"You must go." said the Bird.

"Go? Go where?" said Deidara.

"Up there." said the decrepit woman, pointing up the stairs. "They're all waiting for you. It's your destiny to join them now."

Deidara looked down at his hands, and the mouths on them moving silently, as if talking to each other.

"So... I'm actually... gone? Dead?" said Deidara, the words catching in his throat.

The old woman left him with her infuriating silence.

Deidara hung his head and walked towards the stairs. But just as he was about to lift his foot onto the first step, he stopped.

"What about Sakura?" he asked, turning.

"My descendant? What about her?" said the Bird, raising an eyebrow.

"If I leave... will I ever see her again?" asked Deidara.

"Once you leave, there is no coming back." said the woman.

"But I love Sakura. I can't just leave her!" he said. The words felt right. "I love her!"

"Deidara." said the Bird. "You yourself have said that life's only beautiful because it's so fleeting, so transient."

"I said a lot of things back then." he grumbled.

"You said that art is an explosion." she said.

"No." said Deidara, looking her straight in the eye. "Art can be both a beautiful and a terrible thing."

"Then what is art?" said the Bird.

"Love is the purest form of art." said Deidara. "You need no skill to make it, but it can still be a masterpiece. You need no paint or brushes to love. And while it doesn't last forever... it lingers. It stays your whole life. But who cares about art? All I want is to see Sakura again!"

"Why do you want to see her so bad?" said the Bird.

"She's... she's awesome." said Deidara, a smile cracking his serious expression. "She's beautiful and strong. And she understands me. Sakura told me that she knew that I was hurting inside. I realized that I have... until I met her. She seals the holes that my ruined life has caused. She's my other half, I need her, please! Let me go back!"

"There is no going back." said the old woman, gesturing towards the stairs. "Go up. Rise. It's your destiny."

"I don't care about my stupid destiny!" said Deidara. "I only want to be with her again. Point to the pretty stairs all you want, but I'm not going."

"You're standing on thin ice, boy." said the Bird menacingly.

"I need to protect her! She needs me!" pleaded Deidara. "And I need her!"

"What makes you think that you deserve her?" said the Bird.

"I don't care if I deserve her or not, I just want her! I need to be with her, please!" he said.

"You are wasting my time. Go up the stairs, or I will make you." said the old woman.

"All right, make me then!" said Deidara, clenching his fists.

"WHY DO YOU WANT TO BE WITH SAKURA?" shouted the Bird, raising her hand. Deidara fell to his knees, feeling pressure on his shoulders and back. "You are DEAD. Accept your fate! WHAT ABOUT HER DOESN'T LET YOU LEAVE HER? WHAT?"

"I love Sakura!" Deidara cried, looking up at the Bird, heartbroken with tears in his eyes. "She's taken the full blow of our involvement with the Maika! She was the one I found almost dying, she was the one that was pierced by Itachi's Kunai, SHE was the one that Orochimaru snatched up to torture mercilessly!"

Tears streamed down his face, but he wore a determined expression, digging deep inside himself for the words he needed to use.

"She'll need me now! More than ever! Everyone sees her as strong and stubborn, but I have seen the fear in her eyes! I need to fix her, help her pick up the pieces of her war-torn heart and put them back together again! I need to stay with her for the rest of her life, because we need each other. She's like me, broken inside but trying to stay strong outside. I love her smile, and her laugh, the way her eyes look when they're lit by the fire, and even the pain that her punches and slaps bring. I need to feel her curl up in my arms again, warm and soft, so I can give her peace of mind for just a moment. And I will protect her to the best of my abilities NO MATTER WHAT BECAUSE... BECAUSE I LOVE HER! Is it really... is that really... s-so... wrong...?" he said, finally breaking into sobbing.

"Rise, Deidara." said the Bird. Deidara stood, feeling the weight lift off his shoulders.

Cheering erupted from the top of the stairs, clapping and whistling.

"Wh-what's going on?" said Deidara, wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

"You've passed." said the Bird. "Your love for Sakura is real. You deserve her."

Deidara blinked. "I'm confused." he said.

The old woman smiled kindly. "I needed to see if your really loved Sakura. And you do. You can go back."

"What? So... this was a test?" said Deidara.

The old woman nodded.

Deidara turned red. "Uh... I knew that!"

The floor next to his bare feet opened up, with no stairs, just what looked like the blue of the sky.

"I needed to make sure you were right for Sakura." said the woman. "And you are. So go to her, Deidara. Run to her. Stay with her for the rest of your days. Because she loves you as much as you love her."

And Deidara, without a moment's hesitation, dove through the hole in the ground and plummeted towards reality.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura sat on the ground with her head down. The storm had stopped, and the group of ninja had stocked up on the Maika's abandoned supplies. As soon as their leader was gone, they had fled.

"Sakura, we have to leave." said Gaara gently. "We can't carry his body back. Step aside, I'll burn him."

"No!" said Sakura, still crying, her eyes raw and red. "I c-can't... leave him...!"

"Sakura, that's not Deidara anymore." said Naruto, walking up behind Gaara. "It's just his shell."

This just made Sakura cry harder.

"He died for you. Hold him in your heart always." said Gaara. "But now, you must move on."

Sakura nodded, looking at Deidara's face. She leaned down next to his ear.

"Deidara... I love you... come back..." she said.

"Sakura, he's not coming back." said Ino. "He's gone. Leave him, move on. You need medical attention"

Sakura started to stand, when she suddenly thought she heard something and leaned down.

"I heard something." she said.

"No you didn't. You're imagining things. It's been ten minutes, he couldn't possibly come back to life." said Ino.

"Uh... guys?" said Rock Lee.

"No!" sobbed Sakura, another wave of tears crashing over her again.

"Guys?" said Rock Lee.

"Move on! It's what he would've wanted!" shouted Naruto.

"GUYS, LOOK!" Rock Lee hollered at the top of his lungs.

And then, Deidara opened his eyes.

"Sakura?" he whispered.

Everyone's mouth dropped open.

"It's not possible." said Itachi.

"Apparently, you're still blind." muttered Sasuke.

"D-D-Dei...Deida..." Sakura stuttered.

"You forgot my name?" said Deidara hoarsely.

"DEIDARA!" she shouted, throwing herself onto him, and he grunted as she crushed him with a hug.

"Didja miss me?" he said, wrapping his arms around her, still unable to get up off the wet ground.

"Deidara..." she said through happy tears. "There's something I've been wanting to tell you."

Deidara looked up at her, at her blue, shining eyes. "And that is...?"

Sakura leaned down and her lips found his.

His eyes flew open for a second, but then they fluttered shut as she kissed him.

Sakura kissed Deidara wildly, weaving her fingers into his long, shining hair, still wet from the storm. She wrapped herself around him, never wanting to forget his touch ever again, never wanting to lose the warmth that his arms brought her.

And then their tounges touched and the world around them faded into a blur of colors and sensation, as they lost themselves in each other.

Sakura lifted mouth off his and looked at him, her eyes drinking in every detail of his face.

"Don't you ever leave me again." she said, wiping tears out of her eyes with her sleeve.

"I won't." said Deidara.

Sakura's arms wobbled and she felt dizzy.

"Ow." she said, feeling the sensation of pain flood back into her. "I didn't do too good of a job... healing... myself..."

She slowly lowered herself back onto Deidara and curled up on his chest.

Sasuke suddenly fell to his knees.

"Oh no!" said Rock Lee. "The healing she did on everyone... it was temporary!"

"Well, she never healed me." said Deidara, feeling his stomach wound sting as he got up with great effort, rising with Sakura in his arms.

Sakura looked up at him groggily, feeling warm and comfortable even through all the pain. She snuggled into his chest, rubbing her face on his torn chest to wipe away all the tears that had gathered there.

"You just rest." she heard Deidara say. He ruffled her pink hair and she smiled. "It's all over now."

And Sakura closed her eyes and slept

Deidara stared at her closed eyes for a little and then turned to the rest of the group, her were just staring.

"So what now?" said Ino, looking at her sleeping friend.

"Now," said Gaara, "we go to Konoha."

Deidara's heart sank.

Sasuke and Itachi's eyes flickered towards each other, apparently feeling the same.

"Gaara?" said Sasuke. "We can't go back. Deidara knows it too."

Naruto looked at them in shock.

"But... you just saved Sakura and killed Orochimaru! You're not part of the Akatsuki anymore, right?" he said.

The three shook their heads.

"So come back with us!" finished Tenten.

"I'd rather be alone than surrounded by people who hate me." muttered Itachi.

Naruto frowned. "No! They won't hate you-!"

"We're missing-nin. Don't you get it? Their orders are to kill us the second they lay eyes on us." said Sasuke.

Deidara had kept quiet during the discussion, just looking down at his feet.

"We could go into Konoha before you, tell them to take you off the missing-nin list!" said Tenten hopefully.

"Why would they?" scoffed Neji, and Tenten shot him a glare.

Everyone turned to Deidara, awaiting his input.

"What? What is it?" he said nervously, looking around at all of them.

"Are you coming with us to Konoha?" said Ino. "You can just wait outside Konoha's general area while we run up ahead and tell them that you guys aren't Akatsuki!"

"Yeah." scoffed Sasuke. "That'll work."

"They have a point." said Deidara. "You know, we've got nothing to loose. If they don't accept us, then we just leave to somewhere else again."

"Plus, Sasuke isn't marked for death! It says to bring him back as a citizen!" noted Rock Lee.

"Deidara." said Itachi. "They'll all hate us in Konoha."

"So?" he responded. "We can't just live in the wilderness. Plus, we don't know what their reaction would be-"

"I can live in the wilderness!" said Sasuke, but Itachi put a hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe... we should just try this." he said. Sasuke's eyes widened.

"What? B-but why?" said Sasuke.

"Because it's out only chance to get our lives almost back to normal again." said Itachi. "Plus, Konan changed and they accepted her."

"Fine." said Sasuke, sulking.

"Well, that's settled." said Gaara. "Now lets go. Our thirty days might be up soon. It's been a while."

They were getting ready to leave when Ino walked up to Deidara. He turned, confused.

"The ponytail?" said Ino. "TOTALLY looks better on me."

Then she whirled and strutted off.

"Well." said Deidara. "That was odd... I guess...?"

"Deidara!" said Rock Lee. "Can you leap from tree to tree?"

"Oh yeah." he muttered. "Can't use chakra anymore because of this spider stuff."

"But you can fly, right?" said Tenten, walking up beside him. He nodded and summoned a bird. It rose from the earth below the stone floor, and he stepped onto it slowly, careful not to wake Sakura.

"Alright!" shouted Naruto. "It's night, everyone. We're going to get far away from here and rest. Okay?"

"Yeah!" everyone shouted.

As everyone leapt into the trees, Deidara's bird took off, and he soared through the air. He sat down, spreading Sakura out on the bird and gently putting her head in his lap as he got out some bandages to put on her as they flew.

And the moon hung above them, throwing light across the two and illuminating them as if they were angels beneath the darkening sky.


	18. Sleepless

**Author's Note: Hello, people! Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! They are awesome. All of them. I love reviews, they make my day, they drive me to write more. I am also please that some people have actually had the courage to tell me what was wrong about the story... critique helps me, it really does! Okay, so... here's this. It's might drag on just a little bit, or maybe that's just me.**

**I'm also adding names to the chapters... don't forget to check them out, tell me what you think! :D**

**Anyway... hope you enjoy! PLEASE REVIEW!**

Chapter Eighteen

The nightmares started in darkness.

Sakura opened her eyes and looked around. She couldn't see anything, it was dark.

"Hello?" she said nervously, standing up.

Suddenly, she felt something slither over her shoe. Sakura shrieked and jumped back.

"Who's there?" she shouted into the blackness. "I know you're there, just-"

And then she felt a snake creeping up her sleeve and screamed, trying to shake it off. But it didn't go away, and she heard more snakes coming, feeling them slither all over her, pulling her down. And she fell.

But she never landed on the floor... she just kept on falling, falling, falling through the darkness... the snakes tightened around her, squeezing the breath out of her. Sakura tried to pull them off, but they just wound up her arms, curling around her throat and forcing themselves into her mouth... the smooth snakes rubbing all over her arms, legs, and stomach... she couldn't... breathe...

She heard someone say her name and turned, seeing Orochimaru somehow falling alongside her in a standing position.

Sakura thrashed, trying to get away from the snakes and their master... but she suddenly slammed into the bottom of the place she fell down into, wherever that may have been.

He stood over her, as the snakes wove themselves into a coffin around her body, and sat on her, hissing something...

_"You're mine now... your blood is mine..."_

Sakura started crying, desperately trying to wrench herself free. But she could only stare into his cold, snake-like eyes as he ran his cold, sharp fingers over her neck.

And then he grew huge fangs, like a vampire, and leaned over her. She felt his breath on her neck.

"NO!" she cried, as she felt his reptilian tongue sweep over her skin. "STOP IT! LET ME GO!"

But he didn't seem to hear, and bit deeply into he neck.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" howled Sakura, half screaming, half sobbing. There it was again, the feeling of helplessness that she hated so much.

"S-stop...!" she moaned, feeling Orochimaru lick the new wound, drinking her blood. "P-please, just leave me alone, please!"

_"You killed me and now I'll be with you forever, haunting you. You cannot escape me, Sakura Haruno!" _she heard him hiss, his voice echoing off some unknown place.

His tongue swept up her throat and onto her cheek, making Sakura shudder in revulsion and squeeze her eyes shut, trembling. But when she opened them, she saw that it was no longer Orochimaru, but a giant black snake that slowly wound up her chin and slithered into her mouth and down her throat...

Sakura choked and gagged, straining at the snakes that held her, as her eyes widened in terror and suffocation, Orochimaru's words echoing in her mind.

_"You cannot escape me, Sakura Haruno... Sakura Haruno... Sakura... Sakura..._

_ Sakura..._

Sakura...

"Sakura!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura started screaming in her sleep a little after they'd all laid down to sleep.

They were in a little clearing they'd found, and set up a couple tents. Deidara and Sakura were sharing a tent. But of course, Sakura didn't know that. She hadn't woken up after the battle with Orochimaru... until now.

Deidara sat up, turning around. "Sakura?" he said.

Sakura twisted in her covers, which were slowly getting more tangled around her, and sobbed incoherent words. Deidara shook her lightly. "Sakura, wake up, it's just a dream!"

She didn't listen, only clawed at the covers around her and started to hyperventilate.

Deidara reached for her, worried, but the moment his hand touched her shoulder she shrieked and lashed out at him with her fist.

"Whoa!" said Deidara, ducking as the punch flew over his head. "Sakura!"

"Nooo... STOP!" shouted Sakura, tears streaming from her eyes as she shook wildly, her eyes still closed.

Deidara whipped her covers off, throwing them to the side. They were damp with sweat.

"Snap out of it!" he pleaded, but Sakura just started breathing faster, starting to turn red with lack of air.

_What do I do? She's going crazy! _thought Deidara desperately. He turned to root through his medical supplies in his pack and turned back to her, putting a paper bag over her mouth.

Apparently, this was a bad idea. Sakura ripped it to shreds and kicked out, screaming louder.

And then her eyes snapped open, blue and shining, but they were wild and distant as she stared into nothingness.

_Okay, I've got to restrain her before she hurts herself._ thought Deidara, and leaned over her, pressing her arms down into the ground with his strong hands. But Sakura still kicked at him, trying to get whatever she thought was on herself off.

"PLEASE!" she shouted. "No. D...don't. Don't, don't DON'T!" And then Sakura unleashed a scream so powerful that her back arched painfully, her head twisting to the side.

Deidara, thinking of nothing else he could do, grabbed Sakura and pulled her across himself, with her head on his shoulder. Sakura still kept sobbing, and her breaths came short and fast, but she stopped trying to beat him up.

"Sh-sh-shhh... it's just a dream Sakura..." he said softly, and felt her breathing slowing down.

"Dei...Deidara?" she whispered.

He ruffled her hair. "'Bout time you woke up." he said.

"Deidara!" she shouted, flinging her hands around his neck. "I... I had this horrible dream, and- and Orochimaru was a vampire, sort of, and h-he..." she burst into tears.

"Don't worry." said Deidara. "I can't sleep either."

Sakura clung to him, still shaking.

The mouth on his hand started chewing on Sakura's shirt, but much to Deidara's relief, she didn't notice.

_I have to learn how to control these things again. _he though wistfully, yanking it away.

"Wh-what was that?" stammered Sakura.

"Uh... nothing!" said Deidara, standing up. Sakura hung down from his neck, and he pulled her off and set her down.

"Maybe if we go outside for a while, we'll be able to go to sleep. How's that sound?" he said.

Sakura nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve as she followed Deidara out the tent flap.

To their surprise, there was a fire flickering in the middle of their small circle of tents.

"Huh." said Deidara. "I thought we put that out-"

"I'm guessing you can't sleep either." said a voice, and Sakura whirled.

There, lying on the grass staring blankly up at the sky was... Sasuke.

"Vampire Orochimaru dreams." said Deidara, sitting down around the fire, cross-legged. Sakura followed.

"He really is that kind of person." muttered Sasuke.

Sakura smiled, mostly calmed down. "And you?" she said.

"I chose not to sleep." said Sasuke.

"Aaand you're lying." said Deidara accusingly. "I can tell."

The faintest ghost of a smile flickered across Sasuke's face. "Yeah. Same reason as you guys."

_Is it just me... or does Sasuke seem looser? _thought Sakura. _Maybe it's Itachi._

_ Wait._

"Deidara... why couldn't you sleep?" said Sakura.

"Why do you think?" he answered.

"I have a pretty good idea." said Sasuke quietly.

"What is it? Are..." and then it dawned on her. "You both are dreading getting to Konoha, aren't you?"

"Surprise, surprise." muttered Sasuke.

"It'll be okay!" Sakura assured them. "Everyone in Konoha is really nice!"

"You really think so?" said Deidara longingly, gazing up at the sky.

"I doubt it." said Sasuke.

"You're being mean. Why?" said Sakura.

"I'm not being mean, I'm being realistic." said Sasuke. "They'll hate us. They're really close-minded people. The minute that anyone goes missing, they go after them and try to kill them."

Sasuke sat up, and a cold wind blew across the forest, rustling the leaves in the trees and making the fire tremble. And then Deidara spoke.

"It wasn't Konoha's fault that your brother killed all the Uchia's, you know. He was the one who decided to start passing information to them."

"Wh-what?" said Sasuke, clearly shaken. He turned away. "I wasn't thinking that about...!"

Sakura turned to Deidara, surprised. "Deidara..." she whispered.

"And your brother chose to protect you. The massacre wasn't your fault either." Deidara finished, putting his hands in his lap.

Sasuke turned and opened his mouth to say something, but then he just closed it and laid his head in his hands.

"Sasuke?" said Sakura, looking worriedly at him from across the fire.

And then Sasuke looked up, and they saw the tears in his eyes.

"How could it not be my fault?" he shouted, his voice echoing around the clearing. "If he would have just let me die, then he wouldn't have... wouldn't have-"

"Wanted to keep living." said a voice.

Sasuke turned as Itachi walked up into the light of the fire.

"Itachi? how long have you...?" said Sasuke.

"Since she started screaming." said Itachi, pointing at Sakura. She turned red.

"Did I really make that much noise?" Sakura lamented, turning to Deidara. He nodded vigorously.

"Sasuke." said Itachi. "It wasn't your fault. None of what happened to me was your fault-"

"Yes it was!" said Sasuke, looking at his worn out shoes. "Everything is. Our parent's death, and you joining the Akatsuki and starting to go blind, and... and...!"

Sasuke put his head in his hands.

_Why am I 'expressing my feelings'? _thought Sasuke._ I'm being weak! Only lame people express their feelings! I'm strong, I can deal with my own problems._

_ Yep. Just like you've 'dealt' with your problems for the past years, chasing Itachi and power mindlessly. That totally makes sense. _said his consciousness.

Itachi leaned down and put a hand on his shoulder, and Sasuke looked up. "No. It was my fault. I was the one who should have tried to protect you in better way. Besides, we're going to Konoha now, and we're going to forget about everything that happened in the past."

"What makes everyone think that the people in Konoha will accept us?" moaned Sasuke, looking down. "You killed most of the Uchia!"

"Who were planning to overthrow Konoha anyway." said Itachi. "Plus, we killed Orochimaru."

Itachi started walking back to his tent, and then he turned.

"Plus, I'm dying from a disease that Konoha probably knows how to cure."

And then he ducked into his tent to go back to sleep.

"And he tells me this just NOW?" seethed Sasuke.

"Oh yeah, that!" said Deidara. "I sort of remember that now."

"You stink." said Sasuke.

"Well, we're going to have to travel tomorrow." said Sakura, standing up. "We should sleep."

"Try to sleep." corrected Sasuke, standing up.

Deidara stood up as Sakura started to walk back to their tent. "By the way, Sasuke?" he said.

"Hm?" said Sasuke.

"You should find something to live for. It'll give you motivation." said Deidara, before dumping some sand on the fire and walking back through the darkness into his and Sakura's tent.

"Wonder what he could've meant by that." muttered Sasuke, before turning and walking back into the tent he shared with Itachi.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"HEY! PEOPLE! WAKE UP!" shouted Naruto.

"Ah, that was a good, long sleep!" said Rock Lee, stretching as he emerged from his tent.

"Yeah, I really needed that rest after all that stress with Orochimaru and stuff!" said Tenten, walking into the the clearing.

"Heaven knows we really needed it too." said Deidara hoarsely, as he carried a wide-eyed trembling Sakura of their tent.

"Sakura!" said Naruto running over.

"I'm... I'm fine." said Sakura, rubbing her head

"What happened?" said Gaara, as the rest of the ninja gathered behind him.

"We tried to go to sleep." said Deidara. "That's what happened."

"I figured." said Itachi, dragging Sasuke out of his tent by his collar..

"You three look like you haven't slept at all!" said Tenten.

"We didn't." said Sakura, getting down from Deidara's arms and standing up on wobbly legs.

"I shouldn't have even tried. It just made it worse." said Sasuke, pulling Itachi's hand off his collar and standing up.

"What made it worse?" asked Gaara.

"The nightmares." said Deidara.

"I won't ask." said Neji, walking off to get ready for travel.

"Neji! That's not nice!" Tenten shouted after him.

"Maybe it's just temporary." said Sakura, clinging to Deidara.

"Let's just hope it is." said Deidara. "Now which direction do we go now?"

Gaara looked down at a map. "Uh... just east. Let's go."

As the group of Ninja walked away, Deidara drew his daggers and summoned a bird. It rose up from the ground and waited patiently as Deidara helped Sakura onto it.

"Everyone, go!" shouted Naruto, and they began their journey. The earthen bird rose into the air, flapping it's wings as it followed the others.

Deidara turned, noticing that Sakura didn't look so good.

"Sakura... are you okay?" he said.

"It's so hot up here... I wish it was cooler." said Sakura.

"Hot?" said Deidara. He felt the cool breeze that blew on his face. "Um... It's anything but hot, Sakura. Are you sure you're okay?"

"I t-think so." stuttered Sakura, trembling.

"Why are you trembling if you're feel hot?" said Deidara worriedly.

"I... I don't know." said Sakura. "Because of last night, maybe?"

"Yeah, probably." said Deidara. "Here, you should just try and rest a little. Come over here, I'll make sure you don't fall off."

Sakura nodded. "Th-thanks." she said, and Deidara pulled her over.

Sakura winced.

"What's the matter?" said Deidara.

"Nothing." said Sakura.

Deidara frowed, worry sprouting in his head. "Come on, tell me. Does something hurt?"

"Yes!" said Sakura, starting to cry. "It hurts so bad, all the time, I didn't want to tell you because- because-"

"What hurts, Sakura?" said Deidara, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Tell me, where does it hurt?"

"Where Orochimaru stabbed m-me!" she sobbed. "It burns..."

Deidara pulled her shirt up halfway and quickly unwrapped the bandages around the wound. The more he took off, the more soaked in blood they were, and he gulped, starting to get nervous.

And then the last strip of cloth came off, and Sakura gasped in pain as she felt it peel off her wound.

The cut was bright red, swollen, and still messy. It had barely started to heal.

"Oh no." said Deidara. "Sakura let me put clean bandages on it."

"What? What's wrong?" said Sakura, scared, as Deidara got out a fresh roll of bandages. "Is something wrong? Tell me!"

"I think it's an infection." said Deidara. Sakura felt his cold fingers touch the burning area of the wound and shivered. "A bad one, by the looks of it."

"What's going to happen?" said Sakura, looking up into Deidara's eyes.

"Don't worry, it'll be okay." said Deidara. "We just have to hurry and get to Konoha fast. I'm going down to tell them that."

Sakura started shaking. "Deidara, I'm scared." she whispered.

"It's okay, just come here." said Deidara, and he wrapped his arm around Sakura and pulled her close. She still shivered, her arms bare, so she slid into Deidara's shirt beside him and laid her burning forehead on his cool skin.

The bird descended until it was hovering next to Gaara.

"Hey! Gaara!" shouted Deidara. "Hey!"

"What is it?" said Gaara. Naruto turned.

"I think something's wrong with Sakura!"


	19. Sacrifice

**Author's Note: OMG OMG OMG IM LOSING SO MUCH SLEEP OVER THIS! D8**

**I SHOULD BE IN BED RIGHT NOW, THIS IS WAY TOO LATE! But I just HAD to finish this epic chapter. I'm going to go crazy in school tomorrow...! SO YOU BETTER REVIEW THIS. I worked hard on it! Anyway... this chapter is pretty fast paced, so try to keep all the information in your mind. More author's notes at end of chapter!**

Chapter Nineteen

It was when Sakura passed out that Deidara knew, knew that what had to be done had to be done. There was no avoiding it.

They were still a good distance from Konoha, about a day and a half or so. But whatever Sakura had gotten had spread fast, and she was doing worse than before. Her breathing came and went fast, and her face was pale with beads of sweat rolling down.

None of the ninja could leap fast enough to reach Konoha in time.

But a bird, that was a different story...

Deidara angled his bird down and swooped next to the rest of the group.

"Hey, guys?" he said. "Sakura's out cold. I've gotta do something."

"What do you mean?" said Naruto, nervously. "We can't go much faster than we're already going!"

"I can." said Deidara. "Forget about the whole 'you going ahead' strategy. How about... we do it backwards?"

"I'm not sure I like this, Deidara." said Gaara. "What exactly do you want to do? Fly to Konoha to drop Sakura off and let yourself be captured? They'll kill you."

"Not if you hurry!" said Deidara. "Anyway, I'll try to come back, but... if they get me, let them."

"At least let one of us come with you!" said Tenten. "If they see us on the bird, they'll know-!"

"Sorry, two people to a bird. I don't think I can manage three." said Deidara sheepishly. "It'll be fine!" He smiled.

"No, you idiot!" said Sasuke. "They'll kill you immediately! What makes you think they'll wait for Naruto and everyone will come?"

"It _does_ usually take them a while to decide on executions." said Gaara. "But Deidara, consider this. By flying into Konoha, you are at risk. You have a death penalty on your head. They won't even hesitate, or ask your opinion. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Deidara nodded. "You just hurry up a bit. It'll be totally fine!"

"Okay, but... be careful! With Sakura!" said Naruto.

And then three extra wings sprouted from Deidara's bird and it sped off into the distance.

"No! Wait! You idiot!" shouted Sasuke.

"It's okay. He knows what he's doing." said Itachi.

"Uh, no he doesn't!" yelped Sasuke. "What if they attack him and kill him? Ever thought of that?"

"He can probably handle it." said Rock Lee. "I mean, with all the glowy-ness in him, and-"

"Fool." said Neji. "You know, if he still had the same amount of power as before, don't you think Sakura would have been healed by now? It was a one-time thing. Maybe he'll get it back someday, but he also might not. Only time will tell."

"If he lives long enough to find out." said Sasuke.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It had been a while.

Deidara didn't exactly know how long it had been, but it had been a while. And he was getting closer to Konoha.

A light wind blew through his long hair, and it shimmered in the light of the moon that hung above the dark night.

The walls rose above the trees, but Deidara had slowed down.

_How'll I do this?_ he thought, more than a little nervous. _How do I drop off Sakura first and then try and escape back to the others?_

He snapped his fingers and forced a weak smile onto his face.

_C'mon, smile Deidara._ he told himself. _It'll be okay, right? As long as Sakura's safe, and the guys get here... in time..._

The smile slowly slid off his face.

_Just... hurry you guys, okay?_

And then he urged his bird on, soaring higher. He could be sighted any moment.

_Well. _he thought. _Here goes...!_

And eyes blazing with determination he flew over the wall of the village hidden in the leaves and dove down towards the ground.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Kankuro was furious.

"Gaara went _where_?" he shouted.

"Keep it down, Kankuro." said Lady Tsunade, rubbing her temples. "You're giving me a headache."

"How can I keep it down? Gaara ran off to some random place with some random people, and- and-"

"You worry too much." said Tsunade calmly. "Even if someone does attack us, we are more than capable of handling the situation."

"Where did he go anyway?" grumbled Kankuro, crossing his arms.

"He went off with Naruto and some others to bring back a missing-nin. Far from your supposed 'random people'."

Kankuro narrowed his eyes. "Well, I still think that-"

The door burst open and a young woman stumbled in, out of breath.

"Lady Tsunade!" she shouted.

:Tsunade stood, tense. "Yes, yes, what is it?" she asked.

"I... we're..." huffed the woman, out of breath.

"Speak quickly!" thundered the Hokage, bringing her fist down on her desk. Kankuro stepped back as it splintered slightly.

"A... Akatsuki! We're under attack!" said the woman.

"Tell everyone to prepare for battle!" shouted Tsunade. "Go, go, go!" Then, she ran out the door herself, running past the startled woman to call all the others.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Shouts of surprise rose from the village, the people scrambling for shelter in their homes, seeking to protect themselves and their families.

"It's him!"

"I heard he was dead."

"How is this possible?"

Kakashi stood in the middle of the chaos, but it quickly cleared as everyone fled from the streets except for the soldiers and other ninja.

A small device clipped onto his waist crackled. "Kakashi!" said the voice of Tsunade. "Try to defeat the Akatsuki while we gather more people."

"Sure." said Kakashi, looking up in the sky. "But Tsunade..."

"What, what is it? Quickly!" said her voice, laced with static.

"Something's not right about his chakra." said Kakashi. "Are you sure he's Akatsuki?"

"Yes, he's clearly recognizable!" said Lady Tsunade.

"By the way..." said Kakashi, squinting. "He's carrying something."

"What matters now is the safety of this village, Kakashi. Do as I say!"

And then the small device switched off with a beeping noise.

"All right, Deidara." muttered Kakashi. "Let's see what you're hiding."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The wind rushed in Deidara's ears as he dove, clutching Sakura. If she fell now...

_No._ he thought, shaking his head. _Stop thinking that, stop thinking that NOW. All that matters is getting her to safety._

He pulled out of the dive right above the ground, and the bird skimmed the ground slightly as the bird flew along the narrow road.

Deidara swooped back up, looking for a place to put her. And then he saw it. The Konoha hospital.

An arrow suddenly whizzed past his face, slicing past his cheek. A small gash opened, and he fliched as blood dripped from the wound.

He flew in a straight line towards the hospital, and as he reached the roof, a crackling ball of lightning shot towards him. He ducked, and felt his hair stand up as it went by.

Straightening up, his bird's wings flapping vigorously, he landed on the roof of the hospital and laid Sakura there.

"Be okay, please just be okay." he whispered in her ear before getting off his bird and rising into the air, leaving Sakura behind.

Meanwhile, below, the soldiers were confused.

"He didn't even try to blow up the hospital."

"He just left something on there!"  
>"Or... someone?"<p>

"Maybe it's a bomb?"

"What's he doing now? Don't tell me he's..."

And it did in fact look like he was just... leaving.

"No! We can't let him get away!" said Kankuro, standing and watching from a ledge. "But where is that Kakashi?"

Deidara looked down on the village as he sped out of Konoha's airspace. He saw only people prepared to fight, and his spirits plummeted.

_I bet this is how we'll all be received when we come back with Naruto and the rest._ he thought glumly.

And then he felt a presence. A very powerful presence.

Deidara turned slowly, suddenly tense. He was so close to the entrance... if only he could just make it...

And suddenly, he felt a massive force, like a brick wall, slam into his side. Lights exploded before his eyes, and pain tore through half of his body.

He panicked, his bird flapping faster and faster, until-

***'KRRROOOOOOOOMMMMMSHHHHHH'***

He shouted in agony as his bird exploded beneath him, out of panic combined with lack of control, or experience, or whatever it was.

Deidara felt himself get blasted into the air, strangely peaceful as the wind blew through his hair. He felt the warm blood on himself, already trickling down from where the bomb had damaged... but he felt no pain. He felt nothing.

And then, just as soon as he had started to rise...

Deidara fell, plunging down through the night sky, through the ashes that floated in the air from his explosion, like a falling angel, wings lost.

His eyes closed.

Fade to black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Guys, hurry up! We've gotta get to Konoha in time!" shouted Naruto. "Quickly!"

"But... we're going as fastas we can!" said Rock Lee.

"Yeah, slow down!" said Ino.

"We can't slow down!" growled Naruto, panting from exertion. "We've gotta... we've gotta-!"

"Naruto." said Gaara. "Calm down. We're not far away, I'm sure Deidara will be able to survive until then. Okay?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, but he nodded. "Fine."

They went on. The sky slowly started growing lighter as day approached.

And suddenly, without warning, a showed of Kunai fell on the group of ninja.

"DODGE!" shouted Naruto, and everyone tried there best to do so. When the weapons had passed, they screeched to a stop, swiveling around to try and find any possible attackers.

"Oooh! Tobi has found the traitors!" called someone in a sing-song voice.

"I know that voice." said Itachi, clenching his fist.

"What? Who?" said Sasuke.

And then, a person wearing what was apparently a decorated orange mask skipped forward from behind a tree.

"Hello!" he said cheerfully, waving and tilting his head to his left.. "We're going to kill you!"

"Oh yeah, and what makes you so sure of that?" said Naruto, his eyes flashing.

"Fools." said a voice from the shadows.

The group of ninja gasped and some stepped back as a very familiar shape emerged from the shade of the trees.

"Did you _really_ think I was dead?" growled Kisame, his face igniting with rage.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara woke up in a tiny cell, with the only light coming from a tiny hole drilled into the ceiling.

His entire body ached. His head, his legs, his arms, his back...

Yet somehow, by some miracle... he was alive.

But where? Where was this place?

He felt weak, and looked down to see his hands bolted together with rusty handcuffs. They were attached to a chain that led through a small circular hole in the cell door to somewhere outside.

There was something around his neck, he felt it there. It was a collar of some sorts, with many chains leading out locked onto different hooks on the wall. He leaned back, testing the strength of the chains, but they held fast, creaking, the locks on the wall holding the ends of the chains in place.

Deidara sagged as much as his collar would let him.

_Hurry up, Naruto, and the rest of you guys..._ he thought. _I don't think that these guys will want to wait for you...!_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Konoha was filled with cheering. Yes, they'd finally caught an Akatsuki. Alive.

But aside from the cheering... there was confusion.

Why had an Akatsuki left an injured Kunoichi on the roof of the hospital, with a gaping hole in her stomach?

Tsunade sat in her office, important officials around her.

"So." she said. "Sakura's condition?"

"She has an infection." the head of the hospital piped up. "Nothing that we can't solve, but it's lucky she got here in time."

"Okay." said Tsunade. "But we still don't know which side Sakura's on. When do you think she'll wake up?"

"Uh... in about a day or so, I'd guess." said the doctor.

"And as for the Akatsuki boy," she continued. "What should we do with him?"

"Question him!" said someone.

"No, you fool!" said another man. "That'll give him more of a chance to escape. We need to execute him immediately!"

"Why execute him? We haven't had an execution in Konoha for a while now." said Tsunade. "What does killing him do for us? We're an advanced civilization here. We-"

"Yeah, but he killed a bunch of us!" said a young-looking man from the corner of the room. "We should make him suffer, show the other Akatsuki that they better watch out!"

"Yeah!" said the man that had spoken before.

"Yes, now that I think of it... that sounds reasonable." said Tsunade. "Now, the question is... how?"

"Definitely in public." said a woman. "So those who have suffered or lost someone at his hands can feel that revenge has been taken."

"Wait. Maybe this isn't such a good idea." said Tsunade, her eyes flickering down. "Do we really want to show our people that revenge is the best-?"

"Oh, I know!" said someone else. "We could burn him alive!"

"No," said Tsunade. "That's not what I meant-"

They ignored her. "A knife through his neck!" said someone else.

"Slowly!" added someone.

Tsunade was shocked at the cruelty. "No, we won't do any of that! Besides-"

"Lady Tsunade." said someone. "Don't you want him to suffer as his victims did?"

"Well..." she responded, unsure.

"Please!" pleaded someone else. "It's what's right!"

Tsunade looked down at her feet, still unsure.

"He showed no mercy to us." said someone. "And we're only doing the same thing, right?"

"Very well." said Tsunade. "Arrange the execution. Now, the last problem. When?"

"How about tomorrow morning?" said the head of public events.

"Okay." said Tsunade quietly. "Now, leave me please."

They all stood, bowed in respect, and left.

Tsunade turned her chair towards the window that showed the world outside.

"Am I doing the right thing..." she said, feelings of uneasiness stirring within herself.

"...Dan?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a long and bloody fight.

Tobi slipped away in the middle, unseen. But of course, no one noticed. The fight with Kisame was the center of the battle.

Apparently, the one that had died at the Maika headquarters had been a remotely-controlled clone. At least that was what Kisame had gloated before Sasuke's sword had gone run him through.

But now, there was no mistaking the real Kisame lying dead on the ground.

Heavy breathing resounded from the group of tired and bloodied ninja. But there was no time to be lost.

It was noon.

"Oh no." said Naruto. "Gaara, how long did you say it took for Konoha to execute...?"

"About one day." said Gaara.

Everyone gasped.

"HURRY!" shouted Naruto, leaping forward. The rest of them followed.

"We're not going to make it...!" said Sasuke.

"No, don't say that!" said Ino. "Don't worry, Naruto, we'll get there in time."

Naruto didn't respond.

"Naruto?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Time flew, fast and slow, from the viewpoints of different individuals.

Three different groups of people, three different places, three different situations. The world spun, time pressing relentlessly on, dragging those who weren't ready forward and impeding those who needed to move faster, and couldn't go fast enough as a result from advancing.

One lay asleep, one awaited cruel fate. One group shaped the future, and one group just couldn't reach the future fast enough. Well, not exactly. It was more about them trying to outrun it.

Seconds ticking by slowly for those who waited, and fast for those who had no time to wait. Passing without meaning to those unaware of it.

Time.

Such a harsh mistress.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Nightfall.

Deidara knew it was night when all light faded away from his jail cell and the crickets started chirping outside.

_Such a beautiful sound._ he thought.

He was starting to get worried, forcing down the panic within him. Where were they? Why hadn't they come yet? Had they forgotten him, or left him?

_No. They would never do that, they're kind people._ thought Deidara. _So why?_

And he was at a loss for an answer.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And then there was day.

But on this day, the sun didn't shine. The clouds blocked it, as if they wanted to obstruct it's view of what would take place in Konoha's center that day.

A crowd of people had already gathered next to a sort of raised stage where the execution was to be held.

A long, sharp knife glinted on the stage, ready for use.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara looked up as the door opened.

"Don't talk. Don't move." said one of the two men silhouetted in the doorway. "If you do, we will kill you now. Show a single sign of resistance, and we will kill you now. Do you understand?"

Deidara nodded silently.

One of the two men strode forward and kicked up, hitting him under the chin. Deidara's head snapped back painfully, and he winced.

"I told you not to move." said the man, before going to unbolt the many chains attached to his collar from the wall. The other one laughed.

And then two more men walked in and removed the ends of the chains from the wall and lifted them, forcing the teenager to his feet. Three of them held the chains connected to his neck, and one of them held the one attached to his hands, and they walked forward with Deidara in the middle.

They walked through a dark, humid hallway, with the walls cracked and chipped everywhere. It smelled of blood.

Deidara glanced all around him, at the faces of those leading him away, and at his surroundings. Fear reared it's ugly head in his mind, an sweat gathered on his forehead.

_Of course, I've heard of dying with dignity, going out peacefully and accepting your fate. _thought Deidara. _But... I've never understood that. I don't think I would have felt this way before, but... I'm scared. I don't want to die! Could this really be my fate? Me and Sakura, risking both our lives so we can finally be together... just so it could come to this?_

Suddenly, with a sharp turn left, there was a flight of stairs leading up to the sunlight. They went up, into the open air.

The minute they stepped onto the raised stage from the hatch in the floor, the people all around started jeering, some throwing rocks.

_Is this... Konoha?_ thought Deidara, looking at all the malicious faces. _These certainly don't like the nice, accepting people that Sakura described to me. _

_ Sakura._

_ I'm sorry, Sakura._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura's eyes flew open and her fist shot out, punching the first person that she saw.

"Ouch! Well, I can see you woke up, hun." said a pudgy nurse sitting by her side.

"Ugh... where am I?" said Sakura, feeling tired and dizzy. Her throat was parched, but she didn't feel thirsty. She glanced down at her arm and saw a small IV resting in it's crook.

The pillows were soft and comfortable beneath her head, and they made her slip into drowsiness, wanting to fall asleep again.

"Here, honey. Drink this." said the nurse, handing her some juice. Sakura grabbed the cup and downed the juice, setting the cup down on a small stand next to her bed when she was done. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve, feeling more focused, and she sat up.

"Where is everyone?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" the nurse asked curiously.

"The group of people that brought me here!" said Sakura, smiling hopefully. "Are they nearby?"

"A... a _group_?" said the nurse, bobbing her face forward. "A group didn't bring you here."

"Then... who did?" said Sakura nervously.

"Um... well, it was an Akatsuki." said the nurse.

"Oh." said Sakura. "Blonde hair...?"

The nurse nodded. "Yep."

"And... is he here?" said Sakura hopefully, leaning forward. "Is he nearby?"

The nurse tilted her head, looking up. "Well... in a manner of speaking, yes." she said.

The smile dropped of Sakura's face.

"What do you mean?" she said, a nervous edge to her voice.

"Well... if you're thinking of the one that I'm thinking of... then they're holding his execution right now."

Sakura's heart skidded to a stop.

"WHAAAT?" she shouted.

"Yeah. Calm down, hun." said the nurse. "What was his name? It was... Daidero... Doidero...?"

"Deidara." whispered Sakura, in shock.

The nurse nodded. "Yeah, that-"

And Sakura leapt out of her bed and ran, ripping the IV tube out of her arm.

"Wait! Stop! Guards!" called the nurse.

Two guards ran forward, but Sakura kneed one of them in... well, right below his stomach, and he sucked in a quick breath and toppled over on his partner.

And as Sakura ran outside, it started to rain.

_YOU IDIOTS! _she thought. _WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL THEM THAT HE WAS NOT AKATSUKI?_

She ran through the rain, her feet making splashes in the small puddles gathering on the ground. The wound on her side, even though bandaged, stung like mad. But she didn't care.

"DEIDARAAA!" she shouted, her eyes narrowed as the rain beat relentlessly against her determined face.

Sakura's hospital gown billowed out behind her like a cloak, revealing her underclothes. But she, for once, didn't care.

_Deidara, you said you would protect me..._ she thought, gritting her teeth as a tear, mixing with the rain, ran down her cheek. _But who's going to protect you now? YOU IDIOT!  
><em>"AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!" she screamed into the forming storm as she charged towards the crowd of people visible in the distance.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The men that had led Deidara up from his cell, whom he now understood were the executioners, forced Deidara down onto his back on a wooden slab, bolting the chains to it. They raised it upright, and put an iron cuff around his neck, bolting it to the wood too. He was helpless, a rat for experimenting strapped onto an operating table.

He couldn't move, couldn't run, couldn't hide. Couldn't block out the cheering of the crowd around him as they shouted for his death.

"DEIDARA!" shouted someone into a megaphone. "YOU HAVE KILLED OUT PEOPLE, AND NOW WE WILL KILL YOU! YOU HAVE SHOWN NO MERCY, AND NEITHER WILL WE."

Deidara, shaking in fear shook his head, finding it hard to breathe, and opened his mouth to speak.

"OBJECT," the man continued. "AND WE WILL BURN YOU ALIVE! BE THANKFUL THAT WE DECIDED TO EXECUTE YOU FAST! YOU DESERVE MUCH WORSE, GIVEN YOUR ACTIONS!"

Deidara was helpless. There was nothing he could do, no one he could cry out to.

The crowds roar drowned out any other noise.

And he was alone.

Alone, in the middle of this mob of bloodthirsty people.

He couldn't hold back the tears, and they streamed down from his eyes. And the people saw, even though the rain made in hard to.

"Hey, the murderer's crying!" someone jeered.

"We cried too!" someone else shouted.

Deidara gritted his teeth.

_Why won't the tears stop? _he thought. _Why do I have to be so weak?_

He looked, fear clenching in his stomach, at all the eager faces around him.

"P-please..." he whispered, mouthing the words, his eyes pleading.

His only answer was a chorus of, "KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM!"

A man stepped onto the stage and picked up a very long knife, huge in fact, and walked towards Deidara.

The man looked proudly at the crowd and spoke.

"I will slowly slice into this merciless killer until he has suffered enough before amputating his head!"

The crowd roared it's approval.

_So barbaric..._ thought Deidara, tasting salt in his mouth. _They are truly merciless. Is this the real face of human nature?_

And then the man raised his knife.

Deidara shook wildly, unable to contain the pure terror coursing through his veins, and squeezed his eyes shut as the knife sliced into his stomach.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he screamed, blood spurting from his mouth.

But the man kept going, kept pushing the blade deeper, and Deidara coughed blood. The executioner just laughed.

"STOP! PLEASE!" he shouted, but no one listened, just kept egging the executioner on with their shouts.

And then the cruel man before him slid the knife to the side of Deidara's stomach. Deidara's shirt was stained red, dripping with the blood that was leaving him. Fast.

The man pulled the knife back, and a puddle of blood covered the floor, staining it red.

_No, be strong Deidara, be strong! _he told himself, but his thoughts became muddled with the pain, and the dizziness. He felt sick.

The man slid the blade down Deidara's chest, and he sobbed and cried for the executioner to stop, pleaded with him. But the man's eyes were dry.

This went on for a full ten minutes.

_Let me die, let me die, just oh please just let me die._ was the only thought running through Deidara's head. by the end of that period of time. He thought of happier times, of Sakura, of the feel of her touch, her kiss...

And then the crowd roared with glee as the executioner lifted his knife up to Deidara's throat.

At that very moment, Sakura reached the crowd of people waiting the young teenager's blood to be spilled. And Naruto and his team were still thirty minutes away. All too late to stop the cruel, bloody torture that was inflicted upon an innocent soul. And, perhaps to late to prevent his death.

Yes, Time is a harsh mistress indeed.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**Author's Ending Notes: I AM SO SORRY. About what, you ask? Well, I'll tell you. About skipping the fight with Kisame and Tobi.**

**So sorry... I just felt that it stopped relating to the story. Plus, I was tired and wanted to get onto the next part. It really would just have been a filler, something extra to add in to take up space. And I didn't wanna do that. It just seems to me that I should highlight what's important in the story as we near the end. No hard feelings...! :D**

**Will Deidara die? Will Sakura get there before he's killed? What about Naruto's team?**

**FIND OUT, AND STAY TUNED!**

**Well, I gotta go to sleep... I need to wake up early tomorrow, I'll be exhausted!  
>Agh... time really is a harsh mistress...! *YAWN*<strong>


	20. Love

**Author's Note: WELL... here!  
>ZE LAST REAL CHAPTER. Why do I say 'Real'? Well, I'll explain at the end.<strong>

**There will be more author's notes at the end. I hope you enjoy this chapter... I worked SO hard on it! Longest it's ever taken me to write a chapter.**

**Expect more author's notes at the end! I'm repeating that, because they'll be important.**

**Eeenjoy! (Wow, this is a long chapter!)**

Chapter Twenty

Deidara panted heavily, feeling warm blood run down his skin.

"N-no, please..." Deidara whispered, barely able to breathe. The pain resonated within his entire body, as if his nerves were on fire. He felt wide open, broken... so helpless and weak...

And then the executioner moved closer to Deidara, raising his knife.

Deidara trembled, the terror coursing through his veins as his eyes landed on the glinting weapon in his attacker's hand.

"Oh, this?" sneered the executioner, lifting his knife. "You're afraid of this?"

Deidara didn't answer, only shook harder as helpless tears rolled down his cheeks, making tracks through the blood.

"Answer me!" shouted the executioner. "Or I will slice your arm off right now. Slowly."

"N-no..." Deidara said hoarsely. "Please, don't-!"

The executioner laid his knife gently on his arm and the mouth on the hand attached to that arm twitched frantically.

"No... no, please... PLEASE...!" shouted Deidara.

And then the man started sawing.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Deidara, and the man stopped sawing but instead kneed him in the stomach, right in that first deep cut that'd been made. Deidara's breath left him and pain exploded through his nerves, and he started sobbing loudly.

"Stop... please...!" he cried, shaking.

And at this point, some of the kind-hearted people in the crowd started muttering amongst themselves.

"He really doesn't have to do that..."

"That's just... cruel."

"Okay, I can't watch this. I'm leaving."

But most of their whispers were drowned out by the cheering of the rest of the crowd, and though some left, others took their place at once.

And then the executioner lifted his knife up to Deidara's slender neck.

"I'm going to gut you like a chicken, boy. Say goodbye." said the executioner, starting to push the knife into Deidara's skin.

"Ah... ah...ah...!" Deidara choked out. Death drew near...

He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth as the blade sank into his skin and the executioner's eyes glinted with bloodlust.

_I'm sorry Sakura, I love you, please forgive me... _he thought as the cold steel sank into his flesh, and blood spilled down his chest-

And then, suddenly, a scream tore through the air, and someone was pushing through the crowd.

"DEIDARAAAAAA!"

The executioner turned, annoyed. Deidara didn't dare move his head a centimeter to see who had shouted, because if he did as much swallowed he would surely die.

A small hand reached up to the edge of the stage of executions and grasped it, pulling the rest of the body it was attached to up, onto the wooden boards on the ground.

It was...

Sakura.

The wind picked up as the heavens broke loose. It started to rain.

She was dressed in almost nothing, a shirt and short skirt under her hospital gown, which was torn and streaming out in front of her, buffeted by the wind. Her pink hair, wild and tangled rippled and tossed like the waves of a stormy sea as it shone the light wet touch of rain.

"Stop that!" she shouted, her eyes widening in horror when she saw Deidara. "Stop that RIGHT NOW!"

Deidara recognized her voice, her sweet melodious voice, cutting through his chest deeper than any knife could possibly reach...

_Oh no._ he thought. _Oh no, oh no, oh no... no, run Sakura! RUN!_

The executioner withdrew his knife, and Deidara took a second to suck in oxygen, but he recovered quickly and took the chance.

"SAKURA!" he shouted. "Run, get out of here, I-"

And then Deidara gagged violently and a fountain of blood gushed from between his pale lips.

"Don't talk, or you'll die, you idiot!" shouted Sakura, tears starting to leak out of her eyes.

"Believe me, he was about to die anyway." said the executioner, wiping his knife off onto his pants. "And just who are you?"

"I am Sakura Haruno." said Sakura. She cried tears of disbelief and sympathy, but her voice didn't waver. It was loud and clear, strong as iron. "And I'm not going to let you kill him."

"Oh?" said the executioner. "And what makes you think that you can prevent me from killing him, huh?"

"These make me think that." said Sakura, and she summoned her daggers. They glowed bright pink.

The executioner laughed, his shoulders shaking with mirth. "_Those_? You think you can defeat this..."

He dug his oversized knife into Deidara's side, who squirmed in agony, crying harder. Sakura clenched her fists.

"... with those toys?" he finished.

"I don't care what it takes..." growled Sakura. The crowd gasped as her pink wings tore themselves free of her shirt, arcing above her head. "But I WILL defeat you for hurting Deidara!"

She turned to the crowd. "He's innocent!" she shouted, pointing at Deidara, who was busy coughing up blood. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain... you should be ASHAMED of yourselves!"

"He showed us no mercy!" someone yelled at her, and the crowd roared in approval.

"I'm ashamed I belong to this village of simple minded killers!" Sakura shouted, the rain streaming down her cheeks. Thunder rumbled in the sky, and she whirled, launching herself at Deidara.

And then the executioner was there, blocking her.

"And just where do you think you're going?" he mused, smiling.

"I'm going to free him!" shouted Sakura, swinging her fist. It caught the side of the man's face, and he fell to the ground in surprise.

Sakura stood in front of Deidara, if front of the board he was strapped onto and turned to the executioner, spreading her arms.

"Anyone who want to hurt him has to go through ME first!" she said defiantly, her cheeks flushed.

"Sakura! What are you doing?" shouted someone.

"WHERE'S TSUNADE?" Sakura yelled.

The rain got stronger, Deidara flinching as raindrops fell on his open wounds, mixing with the blood.

"No, Sakura!" he shouted, with the last of his energy. "Leave, now! You're going to get hurt, just leave me! Please, I-"

And then someone threw a rock at him, a large one, and it hit his stomach, right in the center of that first wound he'd gotten. Deidara screamed, a long, drawn out scream that tore through his chest, soaking what was left of his tattered shirt in crimson.

"DEIDARA, SHUT UP I SAID!" hollered Sakura, clenching her fists and turning to look at him. "I'm not going to let you die! You always say you'll protect me... but who's going to protect the protector? WHO?"

Deidara looked into her eyes, so fierce and blue...

His own eyes softened.

"I knew you wouldn't listen to me." he said, a slight smile rising to his face.

"I'm going to protect _you_ now." she responded, "And there's nothing you can do about it. Get used to it."

"Little girl, you don't know what you're meddling with here. This bad man is an Akatsuki. He's killed your comrades. Just step back and watch, okay?" snickered the executioner, picking his knife back up and turning to Deidara, driving it towards his neck-

And then a glowing pink dagger stood in the way, and sparks flew as an electrical shock zoomed up the killer's blade.

"I said," Sakura growled. "I will protect Deidara."

"Are you on his side, girl?" said the executioner, his eyes narrowing.

"Yes." said Sakura. "I am. Because he is innocent!"

Gasps were heard throughout the crowd, followed by mutters.

"Sakura?"

"Why Sakura?"

"Traitor!"

Sakura turned to answer the crowd, but suddenly-

The executioner walked past her, and Sakura whirled just in time to see the executioner slice a huge, diagonal cut across Deidara's chest.

Deidara just opened his mouth, gagging, his eyes fluttering as the world started to go fuzzy...

"DON'T YOU DARE DIE ON ME, DEIDARA!" shouted Sakura, and Deidara jerked awake, forcing himself to remain conscious.

_Hurry, Naruto...! _thought Sakura. _And everyone else... they'll believe all of you. But they won't believe me. Just... hurry! I don't think I can keep this up much longer, I barely know how to use my powers!_

_And iff Deidara dies because you were too slow... I WILL murder you._

Thunder rumbled, boiling clouds gathering in the sky, the wind blowing them to and fro. The wind picked up, howling through the trees of Konoha.

And Sakura stood tall as the fury gathered in her heart, her mind, her soul.

But her love burned fiercer than any storm, than any hate, than any rage that could be felt by the human heart.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The group of ninja burst through the gates of Konoha.

"QUICKLY!" howled Naruto.

Gaara looked up at the storm clouds. His heart beat faster, as he felt evil in his surroundings.

"Something's wrong." he said.

They ran through the village, towards the center, where they saw many gathered.

"Stop." said Neji, and they all screeched to a halt. "I sense her nearby, Lady Tsunade. We can just convince her to stop the execution, and she will."

"Where is she?" asked Gaara.

"Actually... in that house, right there." said Neji, pointing. "I wonder why, though. You'd think she'd at least be in her own home."

They all ran towards the house, and Sasuke flung the door open. They all thundered in, the wind blowing rain into the small house.

And there, on the floor, tied to a chair with a gag over her mouth and blood dripping down from a cut in her forehead was... was...

"LADY TSUNADE?" shouted Rock Lee. "It's... it's her!"

"NO! REALLY?" Ino yelled back sarcastically, running forward and shaking the Hokage.

"Lady Tsunade... Lady Tsunade!" she said, her hands digging into the sleeping woman's shoulders.

Tsunade's eyes flickered open slowly, and then they flew open, and she tried to say something through her gag. Ino whipped it off, a bead of sweat rolling down the side of her head.

"Ino!" said Tsuande. "The Maika, they captured me!"

"Wh-what?" said Tenten nervously. "I thought it was over! The Maika!"

"But of course." said Gaara, slapping his forehead. "They want to attempt to win one last time, go out with a bang... quite literally this time, I think."

"We have to stop the execution! NOW!" said Sasuke.

They all ran out the door.

"Wait!" Tsunade shouted after them. But they were out of earshot, and she groaned.

"You forgot to untie me...!"

And they ran, all of them. Through the relentless rain that splashed onto the long road that led up to the crowd of people in the center of town.

"Why would they want Deidara executed?" shouted Ino.

Itachi suddenly sucked in a quick breath.

"They don't just want him executed." he said, biting his lip. "They want his blood spilled."

"You're not answering my question!" said Ino impatienly.

Itachi gritted his teeth. "they want to summon-"

"LORD OF DESTRUCTION!" they heard a voice thunder from the center of Konoha.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura saw the executioner raise his hands towards the heavens and shout,

"Rise... LORD OF DESTRUCTION!"

Something clicked in her head.

_Maika? _she thought. The crowd around them, of course, had no idea what the lord of destruction was, and they grew quiet in confusion.

And then the executioner's knife started glowing, and he slashed a hole open in the very fabric of the world, through the air itself. A great big cut opened, with only darkness within it.

The executioner laughed.

"FOOLS!" he thundered. "Despair, for the Lord of Destruction will come now!"

"Aw, crap." muttered Sakura, her heart beating frantically in her chest as she joined her two daggers into a sword.

A lightning bolt crashed down from the sky right into the middle of the small stage, and splinters burst from the wood, raining down on the crowd.

The crowd watching panicked, and there were screams as they all ran off to hide.

The executioner turned triumphantly to the black rip that he'd made in the atmoshphere. He reached out his hand-

And then, suddenly, Sakura was there, holding a knife to his throat. His eyes slid towards her, narrowing...

"Tell me the truth." said Sakura. The rain fell even harder now than before, soaking the ground and filling the air with the scent of damp wood. "Just who are you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, little girl." said the man, his hand creeping up towards his sheathed knife-

But Sakura slapped his hand away and twisted it behind his back, making the man flinch.

"You are going to undo whatever it is that you just did. Now."

"I don't think so." said the man, the corners of his lips curling up. He seemed strangely calm.

And then Deidara's eyes widened as he picked up a new presence.

"SAKURA!" he shouted. "GET OUT OF THE WAY, NOW! There-"

Drops of crimson splattered down by his feet as his words of warning were cut off by a wave of blood.

Sakura leapt away from the man, just as what looked like a transparent shadow burst out from the rip in the air. It dissolved into the man, and he spread his arms and screamed in exhilaration.

The man sagged.

Sakura took advantage of the moment to run to Deidara, who was loosing blood far too fast for her liking.

"Deidara!" she shouted, her eyes darting from wound to wound.

It was bad.

Her heartbeat rang in her ears as she knelt down, her sword trembling in her hands.

Deidara looked down at Sakura, who was now working on the strap holding his legs.

"Sakura..." he said.

"Just... be quiet, okay? It's going to be fine... totally fine..." she said as she sawed through it, but her medical-nin training told her otherwise. And Deidara knew that she was assuring herself, not him.

Sakura stood, the legstrap broken, and quickly sliced through the two straps holding his arms.

He fell, peeling off the wooden slab, and Sakura caught him. She kneeled, laying him on the floor.

"Thank you... Sakura..." he said, and then his eyes widened as he saw something in the distance.

"What? What is it?" said Sakura, turning slowly.

The man who had been sitting deflated on the floor was starting to swell up.

_Of course it isn't over._ she thought, standing up as her sword lit up.

She turned to Deidara one last time, and his eyes fluttered open just in time to meet hers. Sakura closed her eyes and looked away.

"Stay alive, Deidara..." she said, and Deidara looked up at her, his wide and worried eyes searching her face for a sign of what was going on inside her head.

Her eyes opened as she turned to him. Sakura's jade irises swam in a filmy layer of tears, and she clenched her teeth as the tears streamed down her cheeks, looking at Deidara.

"...or I'll never forgive you!" she said, her voice full of pain.

"Sakura..." said Deidara, lifting his trembling arm, reaching up to her, but then she started to walk away.

"Sakura... be careful, I don't want you to... die... either..." he said.

Suddenly, Sakura whirled around and ran towards him, skidding to a stop and thudding to her knees before him. And she leaned down over him and locked her lips into his and kissed him, kissed him like the world was collapsing and they only had those few seconds to be together.

Deidara's arm slowly went back down, splashing into the puddle of rain on which he lay.

Sakura pulled up from on top of Deidara, standing up.

"If I forgive you, I'll forget you, Deidara." she said, smiling through her mask of hopelessness and turned, ready for battle.

Deidara looked up.

"I can see up your skirt." he said.

Sakura's hand tightened on her sword.

"I would kick you in the face right now if you didn't look so miserable." she growled.

"I know you would." said Deidara, grinning.

Suddenly, the man who had ripped through the fabric of the air burst.

"What...?" said Sakura, shielding her eyes as smoke swept across her.

The smoke cleared.

And standing in the place where the man had been, there was just a... a...

All the people hiding who'd been watching the execution before gasped. Some screamed, some fled.

There was a huge creature on the remains of the wooden stage, with a vaguely humanoid shape, except for the bulging sack of flesh balanced precariously on eight slick, shining spider legs that replaced it's legs.

It turned to them, and Sakura stepped back.

It had eight eyes, some on it's face and some on his neck, and eight mouths were ripped all across it's body, moving in tandem with each other.

Deidara gasped.

"What?" said Sakura. "Do you know who... what it is?"

"Sakura..." said Deidara. "That... that's the lord of destruction... it's my father."

Sakura looked at him with surprise.

"And he hasn't changed a bit since I saw him kill my mother." he finished hoarsely.

At that point, Naruto and the group of ninja appeared.

"Sakura!" shouted Naruto. The sky rumbled angrily.

"You're a little late, dontcha think!" shouted Sakura.

"Do you need help?" said Ino. "That guy looks-"

"No, stay back!" said Sakura. "I don't want any of you to get hurt."

"But we can help!" said Rock Lee. "You don't need to face him alone!"

"No, you can't help." said Neji. "No matter what anyone does, this thing is beyond all of our abilites. Combined."

"Even Sakura's?" said Rock Lee. "The whole 'bird' thing-"

Neji nodded.

"So how are we supposed to defeat him?" said Rock Lee frantically. "I mean, if he can't be defeated-!"

"No one said that he can't be defeated." said Sasuke. "Only that we can't defeat him by force."

"SAME THING!" shouted Ino.

"Sasuke has a point. Not quite, Ino." said Itachi. "If we can't defeat him by force, there must be some other way of defeating him."

"Like...?" said Gaara.

"I don't know." said Itachi. "But Sakura can sense how strong that thing is... and she's not backing down. I think she has a plan."

_HOW THE HECK AM I GOING TO DEFEAT THAT THING? _thought Sakura desperately. _I don't know how I'm supposed to... it's power level is WAY higher than that of anyone here! What do I do, what do I do?"_

And then the creature raised it's deformed hand and a beam of light shot out of it.

"Whoa!" said Sakura, and ducked. The beam went over her head and hit the board that Deidara had been strapped onto just minutes before, and it glowed and burst into dust.

"Uh-oh." whispered Sakura.

"Sakura... what's going on? What was that?" said Deidara.

"Your daddy." said Sakura, and then she ran at the creature, sword glowing.

"What is she DOING?" said Naruto.

The blade hit the monster-

And stayed there.

Sakura grunted, trying to push the sword into the monster's skin. But nothing happened.

The creature raised it's hand, and it glowed-

"SAKURA!" shouted Deidara, and she jumped away. Her sword dissolved.

She tried to summon her daggers again, but it failed. She was shaking. The fear overtook her body... there was nothing she could do. Nothing.

The creature roared and started moving towards Sakura, it's legs clicking and creaking as they moved.

The sky darkened, rumbling fiercely as lightning smashed into the ground, lightning up the darkness.

It was like night had fallen upon the world.

Sakura stood, her fists clenched, as the creature got closer and closer.

"C'mon, you wanna fight? Huh?" Sakura muttered.

"Sakura you're being stupid!" shouted Ino.

"SHUT UP!" Sakura shouted back. "I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING!"

"You have no clue what you're doing, do you." Deidara whispered.

"Haven't the faintest idea." Sakura muttered.

"I don't want you to get hurt, Sakura... it wants me. Only then can it channel it's power through me and destroy this world. Just kill me."

"WHAT?" said Sakura. "Kill you?"

"Sakura, be reasonable!" said Deidara. "If I'm dead, then the world won't be destroyed. Just kill me, please, Sakura-"

"Why do you give up so quickly?" shouted Sakura. "I'm going to defeat this thing, and you won't die!"

"Sakura... I'm going to die anyway and you know it. Why-"

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" sobbed Sakura. Deidara saw her tears and flinched.

"No... don't cry, Sakura. You're making me feel bad. I'm sorry, I... I shouldn't have kept you after I saved you. All I've done is hurt you, and..."

"Shut up, shut UP!" cried Sakura, squeezing her eyes shut. "You WILL live through this!"

_He's not going to live through this._ said her common sense. _Just... kill him. You're a medical-nin, you know that he has hours, if not minutes to live. Put him out of his misery._

_ No! _thought Sakura. _Never!_

And then she opened her eyes.

The thing was right in front of her.

She gasped tensed, ready to swing a punch-

But the creature just raised the executioner's knife. It was glowing white.

Sakura kicked up, but the thing caught her leg and thrust the knife forward.

Sakura froze and looked down.

The knife was sticking out of her stomach.

"Oh." was all she said before she fell over Deidara, slumping.

"No... it can't be!" said Gaara.

"SAKURA ISN'T DEAD!" cried Naruto. "SHE CAN'T BE DEAD!"

"No!" shouted Ino.

But the only scream louder than all of theirs combined was...

"SAKURAAAAAA!" Deidara screamed, and the pain in him dissolved into rage as he forced himself to sit up.

Blood leaked out of Sakura's mouth, and she stared straight up, her eyes blank.

"YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" he thundered, and he stood.

His whole body protested, sending pain signals towards his brain as he stood, the blood streaming freely down his body and his clothes.

He wasn't supposed to stand, not in his condition, never. But he did stand, the storm raging in his eyes stronger than any storm that nature could wreak upon the world.

And he summoned his knives.

They glowed blue, but the creature just lifted it's hand and shot out a beam of energy.

Deidara blocked it with his knife, stepping to the side, but it went right through his knife and missed his face by mere centimeters, speeding off and fading into the distance.

Deidara gritted his teeth.

_How do I defeat this thing? _he thought.

_Well, how did your mother defeat it?_ his common sense said to him.

"How _did_ my mother defeat it?" he mumbled to himself. "Some glowing thing in her hands... but I didn't see what it was... so how? How do I defeat this thing?"

And then the creature lifted it's hand again and pointed it at Deidara's head.

Deidara jumped to the side, and then the creature lowered it's hand and lowered it to Sakura, who lay on the floor.

And the slimmest chance, any chance that Sakura might have been alive made Deidara's mind speed up as energy gathered in the creature's palm.

_Quick, think! _he thought, biting his lip so hard that it bled. _The Maika wanted this creature to make me into a stronger copy of it_s_elf... and it almost succeeded, instead making me go insane, into a similar state of mind... as this thing..._

And suddenly, it clicked in his mind. The answer.

_And how was I defeated?_

Deidara summoned his daggers and concentrated as strongly as he could.

_I need a regulator, like the one that was on the side of my head to keep my insanity in check before Sakura cured me with her words... come on, come on, come on...!_

He felt something appear in his hands, and looked down.

A regulator.

With no time to lose, Deidara launched himself at the creature.

The world slowed down as he leaped, and the creature turned it's head and stared up at him with it's many, many eyes... eyes that were cold and of an icy dark blue color...

And then Deidara slapped the device onto the side of the creature's head and it let out a screech, a screech that made the group of ninjas off to the side cover their ears.

"What... what is that?" said Naruto.

"He did it." said Sasuke, shaking his head in disbelief. "He did it!"

Or... had he?  
>The creature writhed, collapsing onto the floor.<p>

It started to shrink.

Deidara stood over it, looking down as it melted down into his father.

"D...d-dad?" Deidara stuttered, shocked.

His father turned to him, his mop of overgrown yellow hair mixing with the blood, the blood of everyone that had been wounded that day.

"Thank you, Deidara..." he said, before dissolving into dust.

"You're welcome." said Deidara, and then his strength failed him and he collapsed next to Sakura, his breaths shallow and growing more laborious by the second.

All the ninjas that had been waiting at the sidelines jumped onto the stage, running towards the two that lay dying on the floor.

The crowd of people that had been watching the execution before hiding gathered around the stage once more, looking at the horrible, bloody scene.

"Deidara! Sakura!" shouted Naruto, shaking them both. "Wake up, don't die!"

Ino knelt between the two, and leaned over Sakura, pulling the knife out.

Sakura coughed.

"She's alive!" shouted Ino.

Sakura sat up, blood streaming from the wound. It hurt.

But one thing hurt more.

"DEIDARA!" she sobbed, shaking the blonde. His eyes flickered, but his mouth just dropped open, no words coming out, only blood.

"Don't die, don't die, don't die...!" she cried, her shoulders shaking.

"Sakura... we're both medical-nin here." said Ino gently. "He hasn't got much time."

"You IDIOTS!" shouted Naruto at the people of Konoha who stood, shocked. "In your crazy stupid need for revenge you've killed an innocent person! You should be ASHAMED of yourselves!"

"No." said Sakura, picking up Deidara in her arms and standing up. "He's not dead yet. And while he isn't dead, there's still hope!"

All the ninjas around her looked at her.

"How?" said Tenten.

"Sakura, do you know something that we don't?" said Itachi.

"I hope so." said Sakura, and ran, ran towards the village gates of Konoha.

Naruto started to go after her, but Gaara laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave her." he said. "If she has to do something, she'll do it alone. If there's something she can do, you won't help."

Naruto nodded and stayed.

Sakura ran through the village gates, passing all the small farms in the darkness. There was no sun, the heavy storm clouds blocked the sun.

She pushed on, starting to flap her wings, and she rose into the air, looking for something...

She went as fast as she could, faster than any bird of any kind had ever gone before, so that the world blurred around her, the trees fading into one big brown and green streak

Deidara stirred in her arms, groaning in the pain that was consuming his mind.

"STAY WITH ME!" she shouted, and slapped him.

"I'm d-dying." Deidara whispered hoarsely. "Why are y-you slapp-ping me? You're s-s-supposed to be nice t-to dying people!"

"So you stay awake!" said Sakura, and slapped him again.

"Ow..." said Deidara meekly.

Sakura saw what she was looking for and landed.

It was the cave where they had seen the old woman.

The wind blew through Sakura's hair, and she saw a few leaves dart by, fluttering as they passed. The smell of wet dirt hung in the air.

Sakura walked forward. It was as if she was in a dream, lightning lighting up the darkness as she put one foot forward, then the other, walking forward slowly, her shoes sinking into the soft mud as she stared straight ahead, stepping into the cave.

She shivered as her torn hospital gown tore completely down the middle and flew off into the strong wind, into the air.

A fire flickered in the middle of the cave. Like someone had been expecting her.

Sakura bent down, laying Deidara on the damp ground. The wind carried some wind into the cave, but it didn't reach the two in the cave or the fire that shone in the middle.

She looked down, into Deidara's face. His breaths were labored and shallow, and his face was red. The fire's light flickered over his face, forcing the shadows back as Deidara forced death back, struggling to live, to live and be with Sakura.

But it was getting harder.

Sakura kneeled on the ground behind Deidara and tore off a chunk of her skirt to dab some of the blood and sweat off his face.

"Hello, child." she heard. "I see you have come back."

Sakura felt a calming presence enter the room, and she looked up, strangely unshaken by the appearance of the old woman in the back of the room.

There was a great howling noise as the the wind blew through the trees, like a thousand moans of heartbreak.

"Hello." said Sakura, her voice sounding distant to her.

The woman pointed at the fire and it grew bigger, lighting up the walls of the cave. Many birds were resting on the walls, sleeping or searching through their feathers with their beaks. When they saw Deidara and Sakura, they started cawing, screeching, cooing. The noise was deafening, but Sakura just stared blankly at the old woman, feeling so tired... so overwhelmed...

The presence of the old woman was overpowering.

The woman lowered her hand, and the fire died down again.

"The birds are crying, Sakura." said the old woman. "They come here to rest during storms like this one."

"I think I know who you are." said Sakura.

"Oh? And who would I be?" said the old woman.

"Your eyes are blue." said Sakura. "I know that shade of blue well."

The old woman chuckled.

"I see." she said. "So, who am I?"

"You're some form of Deidara's mother, aren't you." said Sakura.

The old woman grew serious. "Not exactly." she said. "Now, listen closely."

The wind settled down, letting the torrential rain fall straight down, little drops bouncing off the ground and creating a fine mist that lingered throughout the forest floor.

"There are two parts to an animal spirit like the ones passed down in the Bird, the Spider, and the Snake." she said. "There is the good part, and the bad part. When combined into one person, the good part manages to overwhelm the bad part, keep it in check if you will. But when a carrier of the spirit is turned into a Corrupted One, or 'Lord of Destruction' as the Maika called it, that's the process of expelling the good side, letting the bad side take over. The good side, however, must go somewhere, and it latches on to the nearest spirit. And that happened to be Deidara's mother, dying. I took over her spirit."

The woman looked down. "But now that the bad side has been destroyed, I will soon follow. The spirit that Deidara's father carried will be gone. But Deidara carries it. And it will live on."

"But... you're old." said Sakura. "Why do you look so old?"

"Being in this form has aged me greatly." said the old woman. "Now, onto other matters. I think I know your reason for coming."

Sakura looked down at Deidara, broken.

"Can you fix him?" said Sakura. "Please, I-"

"Sakura." said the woman, standing up. "Do you love this boy?"

"Yes!" she cried, the calm that she'd felt before evaporating like water in a hot bath. "I love him, and I don't want to let him go! Please don't let him die, please just tell me it's not to late, I dont know- what I'd do without- Deidara-!"

She burst into sobbing and laid her head in her hands.

"Sakura." said the old woman. "I can't heal him."

Sakura looked up at her, her hope wilting.

"But you can." said the old woman. "Your love is ancient and stronger than you think. Use it. Goodbye."

And then the woman disappeared, turning into dust that swirled away on the potent wind, this time leaving for good.

The cave also dissolved. It had all been part of the old woman's soul.

Rain fell on the two of them, and the water on the ground ran red.

Sakura looked down at Deidara. She didn't know how to heal him, how to save him from death.

She knew that his time was at it's end.

"My love?" said Sakura. "How can I use my love?"

Deidara sucked in one last breath and held it for a long time, trembling.

And then he shuddered and let it out slowly. Sakura waited, tense, by his side.

He didn't breathe in again.

Sakura sagged in defeat. It was over. She'd failed.

_No._ she thought. _Not yet._

She summoned her daggers and combined them, holding the sword up towards the sky.

Lightning struck on the sword, blinding, and Sakura brought the sword down sideways onto Deidara's chest-

She let out a piece of the lightning and Deidara shuddered, his back arcing as he took in oxygen through his broken body...

Sakura ripped off his shirt. Deidara cried out weakly, feeling the pain hit him as some of his skin came off with the ruined, bloody clothes.

She ripped up what seemed like a blood-free place in Deidara's shirt, and quickly wiped the blood off his wounds with it.

Deidara screamed, taking Sakura by surprise.

"Stop, it hurts, it hurts...!" he said.

"Don't be a baby!" said Sakura, but she felt sympathy, not knowing what it felt like to be going through what he was going through.

"Don't worry, it'll all be over soon..." said Sakura, cleaning off the wound on his arms.

Deidara cried out, shaking like mad as sweat rolled down his face.

"Just... stay put!" said Sakura, and then she put her hands on Deidara's chest. He screamed, his skin giving in where Sakura laid her hands.

And then Sakura spread her wings above her and looked up towards the clouds.

With great effort, Deidara opened his eyes and looked up at her.

_She looks like an angel. A sad angel_. he thought.

Sakura thought of him.

All the times they'd had together, all the times that she'd protected him, the feeling of his lips on hers, his warm, comforting arms. Those arms chased away her nightmares, her pain, her sadness, the shadows that lurked in her mind.

"I love you, Deidara." she said. "I know that you want to forget about art... but art is a good thing. What your insane self made... it wasn't art. Love is art."

"Sakura..." said Deidara, looking up at her upturned face.

She looked down, her eyes brimming with tears. The wind blew through her hair, and it rustled the feathers on her wings. She shone, glittering with the wetness of the rain.

"Let's make art together, Deidara. Let's paint on the canvases of our lives, color in our worlds with the paint of our emotions. Be with me, make art with me, and our love will be the most beautiful art in the whole wide world. I... I love you, so please... don't go...!"

"Yes." said Deidara, his face softening as he closed his eyes. "That sound nice."

And Sakura shuddered as her wings lit up, energy flowing into her.

The birds from the cave burst out from the trees, flapping their wings, and flew in a great big column around the two, a wall of feathers.

They cawed and screeched and cooed, louder than any bird had ever made noise.

And Deidara started breathing normally again.

The bird's voices filled Sakura's head.

"We have given you time. Only time we have given you. You must hurry to save him. This is only temporary. We have given you time. Only time, nothing more."

Sakura nodded.

"I understand." she whispered.

And then...

The Birds stopped crying.

They flew away in different directions, noiselessly.

And it stopped raining.

The clouds were slowly pushed away from the remains of the storm's wind.

Sun. There it was, the midday sun. It shone through the trees, lighting up the ground with the light that danced on the ground, streaming down from in between the trees' fluttering leaves.

A rainbow slowly faded into existence over the forest, over Konoha,

In Konoha, the people came out of their houses to see this strong rainbow that lingered in the sky, brighter than usual.

"They've done it." said Gaara, staring up at the sky. "I know that they have."

"I still can't walk, you know." said Deidara, looking up at her.

Sakura smiled and picked him up in her arms.

"Huh." she said, listening to his heartbeat. "I think your body has slowed down. Like hibernation. But it's temporary."

"What?" said Deidara, confused.

_Oh, right._ thought Sakura. _The birds didn't talk to him._

Deidara's eyes fluttered.

"You're tired." Sakura realized, pulling his hair back from his face. "Sleep. It'll be okay."

He nodded weakly and fell asleep instantly.

Sakura looked up at the rainbow one last time before turning to run back through the trees.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Sakura had walked back into the village with Deidara in her arms, all of Konoha had cheered, the long-awaited thanks given to them for defeating Orochimaru.

Sakura had collapsed after taking three steps down the village road.

It was two months before Deidara and Sakura were released from the Konoha hospital.

Deidara was treated for many wounds, external and external, everywhere on himself. There had been a lot of damage, all over him.

Sakura's physical wounds paled in comparison to Deidara's, but the toll on her mind was much greater than that. She couldn't sleep anymore, and had horrible dreams and hyperventilation in the middle of the night.

On days when she was allowed to get up from bed, Sakura would go visit Deidara. It was at those times when they both forgot their pain, when they smiled again.

Deidara waited for these days, longed for them to come, because there was really nothing to do all day but read and stare at the walls.

At first, the hospital staff were nervous around him. He _had_ been accepted back into Konoha... but many had still heard stories about him and his past deeds.

But they'd soon seen his friendly side, and many liked to stop and chat with him.

The nurses that tended to Sakura, however, had much more of a logical and real reason to be afraid of her.

They played fierce, heart-pounding rounds of rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go change the her bandages.

Two months passed slowly. Very slowly.

But they had to end sometime. So they both waited.

And waited.

And waited...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

One day, Sakura came to Deidara's room and found him with a worried expression on his face.

"Hi." said Deidara, glancing up. "I was wondering when you would come again!"

"Those stupid nurses." Sakura grumbled, sitting down and crossing her arms. "Do this test, blah blah blah, do that test. Makes me wanna punch them."

"And do you punch them?" said Deidara.

"Maybe..." said Sakura.

Deidara shook his head disapprovingly. "Tsk, tsk, tsk." he said.

"Hey!" said Sakura. "Don't 'tsk' me!"

Deidara smiled mischeviously, but there was worry in it and Sakura noticed.

"What's on your mind?" said Sakura. "You look all worried."

"Oh... well, it's nothing, really." said Deidara.

"Tell me or die, Deidara." said Sakura, drawing her fist back.

"Okay, okay!" Deidara shouted, holding up his hands and turning away. When Sakura reluctantly lowered her fist, he sighed and fiddled with this fingers.

"Well..." he said, frowning. "Where will I live after this?"

Sakura froze. "Konoha, right?" she said. "You said you would-!"

"But where in Konoha?" Deidara asked. "I don't have a house here... well, so..."

"Oh! You can just live at my house if you want." said Sakura, shrugging. "S'okay."

"What?" said Deidara. "But... your parents...!"

"They left me when I went to train with Tsunade." Sakura muttered. "Never really liked me in the first place.

Deidara blinked in surprise. "Oh... sorry, I-"

"Don't worry. The feeling of dislike was mutual." said Sakura.

"So I'll live at your house?" Deidara mused.

A grin spread across his face.

"In a SEPARATE room." growled Sakura, her hand twitching and ready to slap something. Or someone.

"Ehehe...!" Deidara stammered, turning red. "Of course! I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"You were totally thinking that you wanted to share a room with me." said Sakura accusingly.

"What? No, I would never!" said Deidara.

Sakura's eyes narrowed.

"Liar." she said.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the day of his and Sakura's release from the hospital, Deidara was ready to leave, dressed in a simple green shirt and brown pants. He turned to the door, and it opened. A man walked in.

"Mr. Deidara, a letter." said the man, handing him a letter. He turned and walked out.

"Thanks!" Deidara called after him, and looked down at the letter, opening it.

_'Dear Deidara...'_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura waited outside the hospital, glancing at the door every few seconds. She groaned.

"Where _is_ he?" she muttered to herself.

Suddenly, the door opened and someone came out. Sakura's eyes widened as she walked forward-

And then the person stumbled forward and tripped, falling down the stairs.

"Deidara!" shouted Sakura, running forward.

Deidara groaned, picking himself up and dusting off his clothes.

Sakura was not impressed.

"For an entrance?" said Sakura, crossing her arms. "That was a zero."

Deidara laughed nervously and reached up to smooth his hair down.

"Oh yeah, Sakura!" said Deidara. "I got this letter!"  
>"I got one too." said Sakura. "Do you... do you want to...?"<p>

"It sounds like a good idea, right?" said Deidara.

Sakura nodded. "Okay, then. Now, where do we go?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sakura pushed Deidara into her house.

"Come on, come on!" she laughed. "Go up to my room!"  
>"I don't think I have much of a choice." Deidara lamented as Sakura pulled him down the hall, shoving him through the doorway and slamming the door behind them.<p>

"Sit!" she said, pointing to her bed. Deidara sat.

Sakura sat behind him and reached up to the back of his head, undoing the knot of the old plain bandanna that had that been there since he'd discarded his forehead protector.

Deidara felt her cool slender fingers lightly push his hair out of the way, and he shivered.

And then she was wrapping something around his head and tying it behind.

She let go.

"Congratulations." said Sakura, leaning over Deidara's shoulder as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "You are now a Konoha ninja!"

"I can't believe this..." said Deidara, reaching up to feel the smooth, glossy metal on the forehead protector.

"Yeah, I can't either." said Sakura. "Well, we can't use chakra anymore, we're going to have to learn how to use our powers for real. We were lucky that it worked as many times as it did."

Deidara nodded in agreement.

The letter had said:

_Dear Deidara,_

_ We are pleased to inform you that if you wish, you can become a ninja and fight for Konoha. Seeing as you do not fully know how to use your abilites, you will meet with a special guide along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. Once your classes there are over, we would like you and Sakura to stay in Konoha to help out our interrogation and persuasion efforts, so nothing like what happened a couple of months ago will ever happens again._

_ We would also like you to be part of the defense squads._

_ Please come to my office at 2 O'clock tomorrow to inform me of your decision. _

_ Also, please accept my and the people of Konoha's sincerest apologies for the events that happened two months ago._

_Thank you,_

_Tsunade, Hokage of Konohagakure_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Deidara and Sakura sat on the roof of Sakura's house.

"Wow." said Deidara, setting down his cup of tea next to him on a flat part of the roof. "That training was more intense than I thought it would be."

"Well, in the end we'll be able to use our powers to the fullest." said Sakura. "It'll be totally worth it when it's over."

Deidara nodded and looked towards the sunset. Suddenly, he felt someone watching him and turned to Sakura.

She was sitting with her legs pulled up to her chest with her head on her knees... just staring at him.

"I can see you staring at me, you know." said Deidara.

"Okay." said Sakura.

"Let me phrase that in a different way." said Deidara, leaning back on his hands. "Why are you staring at me?"

"Oh." said Sakura, blushing to the roots of her hair. "It's just that..."

She looked down, and Deidara looked expectantly at her.

"Yes?" he said.

Sakura smiled, embarrassed. "I was thinking about how it'll be with you here. I've... been alone for a while."

"You're not alone anymore." said Deidara. "And you never will be again. No matter how much you'll want to be after living with me for more than a week."

Sakura smiled and laid her head on Deidara's shoulder.

"Thank you." she said softly.

"No, thank you." said Deidara. "You've brought reason back into my life. And I'm happy again."

They both stared into the sunset. Wind blew past them, mixing strands of pink hair with bright yellow.

When the wind settled, the sun was almost all the way down, lighting the horizon with great big brushstrokes of colors.

"Just look at that sunset!" said Deidara. He shook his head in disbelief. "I've never see one like it!"

"Yeah, me neither." said Sakura.

She closed her eyes, then opened them, looking up at Deidara. He glanced down at her and bent down, lightly brushing his lips against hers.

"It really is just like art, isn't it?" said Sakura, smiling.

And Deidara knew that she wasn't just talking about the sunset anymore.

"Yeah." he said, flashing her a reassuring grin.

A solitary bird flitted past them, it's feathers shining in the light of the setting sun.

"It sure is."

**XXXXXXXXXXxxx The End xxxXXXXXXXXXX**

**Ending Author's Note: Well, the end! I hope you enjoyed my lil' DeiSaku story as much as I enjoyed writing it! (Wow... this was a long chapter!)**

**Thank you for all my reviewers, there is nothing, NOTHING I love more than my wonderful pplz who take the time to make me happy and write up a review, no matter how small the chapter was!  
>I never <strong>_**did**_** find out who the reviewer, 'mystery' was. Whoever you are, 'mystery', though I will forever be confused about how you knew when my story was updated... thanks for your reviews!  
>And now for an announcement:<strong>

**EETS NOT ZE END!  
>First of all, I'm planning on making some oneshots with Dei+Saku living together. Subsribe to me as an author if you wanna get updates for those.<strong>

**AND SECOND OF ALL:  
>I will be making one final chapter-ish bit: An extra with interviews with the characters of the story!<br>It'll be something light and funny, to relieve some of the seriousness of the story. After all, Naruto is a funny anime/manga!  
>I will be asking the characters questions, some based on this story, some not.<strong>

**If you have any questions about the story or it's characters, leave them in the reviews and the characters WILL answer them! Along with all the other questions I have planned.**

**So... expect that!  
>AND FINALLY:<br>Please, please, PLEASE review! I worked my muffins off on this chapter. So... pweeeeze? :3**

**THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH ME THROUGHOUT THE STORY, NO MATTER HOW BORING THE BATTLES SCENES GOT AT TIMES!**

**Thanks for readin'! XD**


	21. Extra: Interviews with the Characters!

R.L: Hello, my name is R.L BlackRose, visiting Konoha a few years after the battle with the lord of destruction! I have interviewed many characters from here, focusing especially on Deidara and Sakura. Hope you enjoy these small interviews! Heaven knows I didn't enjoy doing them...

You'll see what I mean.

R.L: Hello, Deidara and Sakura! How are you doing today? 

Deidara: Hello! Nice to meet you!

Sakura: I can already feel that I'm going to punch you some time during this.

R.L: Er... ehehe... let's go onto our first question for you guys!

Deidara: Sure!

Sakura: I don't like you.

R.L: First question! Don't you feel that your love is sort of fake, because you're "destined to love each other" and whatnot? Like, it's not real because it's meant to be... you know what I'm saying?

Sakura: Well, not really. Destiny doesn't really control what happens with us.

Deidara: Yeah, we could have met each other and not liked each other and life would still go on, and the whole Bird and Spider thing would go on unfulfilled!

R.L: Mmm, good point. Now, for our next question. Deidara, when did you get that extra regulator thing that you used on your dad? You know the thing that kept you sane? We didn't see you get that.

Deidara: I really don't know... maybe the glowy thing slipped it into my pocket or something?

R.L: Do you _know_ where the glowy person went? 

Deidara: Not a clue. He just... left. I never even got his name!

R.L: Huh. Mysterious. Anyway... this is a question from someone. I'll read it. "Dear Sakura, why did you dye your hair that ridiculous color?"

Deidara: You just HAD to read that question out loud, didn't you.

Sakura: …

R.L: Is she oka-

xxxxxxxxx We are experiencing technical difficulties. Stay tuned, we'll be back shortly! xxxxxxxxx

R.L: Hello everyone, and welcome back!

Sakura: Oh, yes. WELCOME everyone. Yes, of course, our WONDERFUL nosy idiot audience.

Deidara: Okay, so not everyone knows that it's your natural hair color! So what? 

Sakura: OF COURSE they all know! They just love bugging me, because- ugh. Can you untie me?

R.L: I'm very sorry, Sakura, but I can't do that.

Sakura: And may I know WHY? 

R.L: Because MY FACE HURTS WHERE YOU PUNCHED IT! Ahem... okay, back to more questions. Let's see here... ah, here's one! Dear Deidara and Sakura, are you going to get married?

Deidara: …

Sakura: C'mon, Deidara. It's your turn to punch the wonderful idiot lady.

Deidara: Idunno... it's a reasonable question for them to ask I guess...

R.L: You're turning red! I'll take that as a yes... am I right? 

Deidara: Uh... er, well...

Sakura: Um...

R.L: What? But... you're old enough now! Like... twenty, right? You're past the marrying age.

Sakura: Well, if we will or will not marry is our private personal-

Deidara: Yes.

Sakura: ...?

Deidara: Well... they would've found out anyway! I mean, it's only like two months away.

Sakura: You're FEEDING them, Deidara. Just BEGGING them to ask more personal questions.

Deidara: Ehehe... sorry!

Sakura: When I get out of this chair, you just wait... yes, yes...

R.L: Okay, thank you, Deidara! Oooh, here's one that just came in. "Dear Deidara and Sakura, do you still sleep in separate rooms?"

Sakura: Get a life. All of you. NOW.

Deidara: Well, what happened was-

Sakura: Don't you even DARE answer that one, Deidara. I'M WARNING YOU.

Deidara: Okay, okay... sheesh!

R.L: I'll just leave that one blank, I guess... ah, an interesting one for the pair of you. Did you ever finish training your new powers? What are you doing with them now?

Deidara: Well... There's always new things to learn, y'know. But we can use them better now.

Sakura: We're using them to help Konoha!

R.L: Well, that's wonderful! We're all so happy for you. Now, for one last question, and we'll come back to you later.

Sakura: Good riddance, I say.

R.L: Deidara, this one's for you. What color are...

Deidara: Your face is turning white.

Sakura: Yeahh, why'd you stop, huh?

R.L: Wait, do I have to read this one?

(Backround Voice): Yes!

R.L: Ahem. Uh... Deidara, what color are Sakura's... panties...?

Deidara: Oh, that's an easy one! They're-

Sakura: You IDIOT! HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?

Deidara: Because I do the laundry and, I...!

Sakura (turning quite a lovely shade of crimson): Do you have ANY sense of what you're supposed to say and what you AREN'T?

Deidara: Yes!

Sakura: It sure doesn't seem like it.

Deidara: Ehehe... oh, s-sorry...!

Sakura: It's okay. We all know who's fault this REALLY is.

R.L: Uh-oh. She's out of the chair. Someone, please-!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: Hello, there,-

Rock Lee: What happened to your face?

Tenten: No, shush! He didn't mean that, what he meant was-

R.L: Oh, that's okay.

Your little pink haired friend was what happened to my face.

Tenten: What?

R.L: Never mind. So, how's it going with Deidara here?

Tenten: It was a little strange at first, but we all got used to-

Neji: He tends to avoid Rock Lee.

R.L: Is that so? Why?

Tenten: (sigh) I think he scares Deidara.

R.L: What?

Neji: Do you know Rock Lee?

R.L: Not really, no-

Neji: Then you won't understand.

Rock Lee: Well, I don't get it! I'm just trying to be friendly!

Tenten: Trying. He was... trying.

R.L: Do... do I want to know?

Neji: No. Believe me.

R.L: um... Ooo- kaaay. Now, onto our next guest!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: Hello, Naruto!

Naruto: Hey.

R.L: How did it feel at first, with a former missing-nin moving into Konoha?

Naruto: It was WEIRD! He'd never actually had ramen!

R.L: Really? What else was weird?

Naruto: He'd never been to a ramen shop! Not instant ramen, either, no nothing!

R.L: That's wonderful. Anything else strange?

Naruto: He kept accidentally eating the ramen with his hands.

R.L: I meant anything else that DOESN'T have to do with Ramen, Naruto.

Naruto: Uh... hm, let's see... oh yeah! Wait, no...

R.L: This is hopeless.

Naruto: What?

R.L: Nothing, oh yes, nothing! Well... it's been... nice talking to you.

Naruto: Do you have any ramen?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: Hello, you two!

Sasuke: Hi.

Itachi: Hi.

R.L: How are you doing?

Sasuke: ...

Itachi: …

R.L: Okay.

Sasuke: …

Itachi: …

R.L: Are you ready to start the interview?

Sasuke: Hi.

Itachi: It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.

R.L: First question?

Sasuke: It's nice outside.

Itachi: Hello.

R.L: This is so awkward. ANYWAY, how has it been, being real brothers again?

Sasuke: Fine.

Itachi: Yeah.

R.L: And... what have you been doing around here, Itachi?  
>Itachi: I've been being a ninja.<p>

Sasuke: I have as well.

R.L: Itachi, is it true that you like dango-?

Itachi: DANGO? WHERE?

Sasuke: You had to say the d-word, didn't you.

R.L: Huh?

Itachi: I must now acquire dango.

R.L: No, don't leave-! He left.

Sasuke: Now I want some dango. I'm leaving.

R.L: WAIT!

(Background voice): Just forget it.

R.L: Fine. Let's go on to the next person.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: So, Gaara! Hi!

Gaara: Hello, It's a pleasure to-

Kankuro: Don't give her any information, she just wants to attack out village!

R.L: Hey, how did YOU get in?

Kankuro: Well-

(Background Voice): The door was open.

Gaara: Um, Kankuro, why don't you go get some food... or something...?

Kankuro: DON'T WORRY, GAARA, I'M HERE FOR YOU!

R.L: Anyway. First question: Gaara, Deidara actually killed you. But first, he almost destroyed your village. And after, he SAT ON YOUR DEAD BODY! And now, he lives here. How does that make you feel? 

Gaara: Well, I have an open mind. You've got to accept these things as they come, and I know that this Deidara is not the same one that did all those horrible things. Furthermore-

Kankuro: IT'S HORRIBLE! I have to constantly protect Gaara, or that (BLEEEEEEEEEEP) idiot will kill him again!

Gaara: Kankuro, please...

R.L: Who asked YOU, POTTY MOUTH? This is GAARA'S interview.

Kankuro: Hah, not anymore it isn't! Come with me, Gaara!

Gaara: Wait... but we're not finished.

R.L: What do I do?

(Background Voice): Block the exits!

(Shouting in background)

(Exploding sound)

(Background Voice): He's gone.

R.L: (PULLING AT HAIR) UUUUUUUUUUUUUGH! WHY? WHYYYY? WH-

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: Tsunade! What do you think about the incident a few years ago.

Tsunade: Well, I'm still mad at them for leaving me tied to the chair.

R.L: Anything... else?

Tsunade: I'm still mad.

R.L: Hey... do you know Sakura?

Tsunade: I taught her for a while.

R.L: WHY IZ SHE EVIL?

Tsunade: … I'm leaving now.

R.L: Okay then!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: Now back with you guys.

Sakura: You tied me to the chair again.

Deidara: Duh.

Sakura: YOU BE QUIET!

R.L: Just a few more questions. Sakura, do you still want Sasuke?

Sakura: No. I'm so over him. That was a tiny meaningless crush.

R.L: What happened with Kisame?

Deidara: He was sighted again! It's not fair.

Sakura: Yeah.

R.L: What's going on with the Akatsuki?

Sakura: They're still going strong, like nothing ever happened! Hrmph.

Deidara: Yeeeah. It's not good.

R.L: One more question for the two of you!

Deidara: …

Sakura: …

R.L: Deidara, have you ever used your other mouths... to KISS SAKURA?

Deidara: You HAD to ask that, didn't you?

Sakura: …

Deidara: She's turning purple.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

R.L: (Running) And so, that completes these interviews! Not very successful, but I WAS BORED. Now, if you'll excuse me... I've got some... ahem... escaping to do.

(Sakura in the background): I'LL KEEEEEL YOOOOU


End file.
